Demographic and Job Characteristics of Baltimore’s Security Guard Workforce
This factsheet describes the characteristics of the private sector security guard workforce in Baltimore, highlighting the need to improve labor conditions in the industry.
Low-Wage Work
The Labor Center conducts a wide range of research on low-wage work in California and nationally. Our research focuses on documenting and understanding working conditions in low-wage industries, especially for women, immigrants, and workers of color. We also analyze policies to raise labor standards at the local, state, and national levels.
For an in-depth description of California’s low-wage workforce, see our Data Explorer.
View our Inventory of US City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances and our new Inventory of Sectoral Wage Ordinances.
New! Know Your Rights at Work: Information for New Workers in California. This handout is given to all CA high school students applying for work permits explaining their rights on the job, as mandated by AB 800. Useful for all new workers — and long-time workers, too.
You can also visit our Black Worker project.
Labor Standards
Minimum wage, living wage, and other labor standards studies.
Public Cost of Low-Wage Work
Research on the societal and fiscal costs of low-wage work.
Industry Research
In-depth studies of labor markets and working conditions in low-wage industries.
Independent Contracting & Gig Work
Independent contracting, gig work, and employee misclassification
Low-Wage Work in California Data Explorer
- February 13, 2025 Highlighting the diversity of California’s Asian American and Pacific Islander workforce
- November 18, 2024 Who are California’s American Indian and Alaska Native low-wage workers?
- August 28, 2024 Labor Day reflections on racial, ethnic, and gender inequality in California’s low-wage workforce
- July 15, 2024 Five Things You Might Not Know About Low-Wage Workers in California
Research & Publications
December 14, 2025 -
Ken Jacobs Earnings of delivery network company drivers in Seattle prior to App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance
This paper uses data from January 2022 to determine the earnings of delivery network company drivers in Seattle prior to implementation of the city’s App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance, and to calculate what their earnings would have been had the policy been in place at that time, finding that earnings would have been below the city’s minimum wage.
December 14, 2025 -
UC Berkeley Labor Center Inventory of US City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances
Across the country, cities and counties have become laboratories of policy innovation on labor standards. Before 2012, only five localities had minimum wage laws; currently, 65 counties and cities do. To help inform policymakers and other stakeholders, the UC Berkeley Labor Center is maintaining an up-to-date inventory of these laws, with details on wage levels, scheduled increases, and other law details, as well as links to the ordinances.
December 14, 2025 -
UC Berkeley Labor Center Minimum Wage and Living Wage Resources
Our minimum wage and living wage tools and resources includes our Inventory of US City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances and a table of current local minimum wages in California.
One in Four California Veteran Workers Have a Union
In this blog post, we look at veterans’ prominent role in California’s labor unions, using the data and methodology from our recent report, “State of the Unions: California Labor in 2024.”
Spotlight
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Report
August 25, 2025
State of the Unions: California Labor in 2024
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Press
August 29, 2025
Unions Are Shrinking Nationwide — But Not in California
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Press
August 25, 2025
California unions held their ground last year but face big tests in 2025
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Press
August 30, 2025
‘Moment of crisis’: Unions in somber mood this Labor Day
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Report
May 20, 2024
Gig Passenger and Delivery Driver Pay in Five Metro Areas
Press Coverage
January 26, 2026 -
Pasadena Now
Pasadena’s City Workforce Vacancy Rate Falls to 7.9% From 9.7%
Municipal vacancy rates throughout California, ranging from 5% to 30% across jurisdictions, a 2023 UC Berkeley Labor Center analysis. The study reported that most city officials considered 6% to 10% “not unusual” in normal times.
January 13, 2026 -
Baltimore Sun
Report: Most Baltimore security guard jobs pay low wages, see high turnover
The study released Friday by the UC Berkeley Labor Center concludes that Baltimore has “a unique opportunity to be one of the first cities in the nation in setting higher labor standards” for private security, an industry that the report calls “growing and often overlooked.”
January 8, 2026 -
Government Technology
By Modernizing Finance Tech, Ketchum, Idaho, Saves Time
A 2023 study by the University of California, Berkeley, Labor Center found public-sector vacancies across all occupations and wage levels in California.
January 5, 2026 -
Fresno Bee
Fresno’s minimum wage rose with new CA rate. Here’s how it compares to LA, SF, Sac
Forty California cities and counties, particularly those in the Los Angeles and Bay Area, have enacted a minimum wage higher than the statewide rate in 2026, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center.
January 5, 2026 -
Sacramento Bee
These California cities just raised minimum wages. Where can workers earn more?
According to the UC Berkeley Labor Center, here’s where workers earn more than the new state minimum of $16.90 per hour.
Tools & Resources
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Tool/Resource
December 14, 2025
Inventory of US City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances
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Tool/Resource
October 13, 2025
Union Density and Membership in California
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Tool/Resource
June 27, 2024
Sectoral Wage Ordinances
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Report
August 29, 2023
California Union Membership and Coverage: 2023 Chartbook
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Tool/Resource
March 1, 2023
Living Wage and Self-Sufficiency Tools and Data
Program Contacts
Enrique Lopezlira
Director, Low-Wage Work Program
Ken Jacobs
Senior Policy Advisor
Savannah Hunter
Senior Researcher
Ellen Love
Policy and Project Analyst