There is no single rate in the USA
It should be noted that the US has several minimum wages.
First a worker who receives tips only gets $2.13 an hour so long as the employer meets the difference between tips and the federal minimum wage. It should be noted that trying that in a nation where there is not a tipping culture would be much harder as the people there feel that they should not have to pay the wages of the staff.
Then individual states have higher minimum wages, for example Vermont has a wage of $9.15 an hour. There is nothing stopping a state from setting a higher wage. Washington DC has a wage of $10.50 although it is a territory, whereas American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands have wages less than the federal minimum.
Sometimes the federal rate does not apply when there is no interstate commerce and the business only makes a small amount of money.
Is the wage actually low?
The data above is for developed countries. But let us have a look some have been left out.
Ok, Singapore is developed and there is no minimum wage there. They have a GDP per capita greater than the USA. And Korea is a developed their wage is $4.95 an hour. Or Taiwan at $3.88 an hour. Hong Kong is developed and their wage is $30HK an hour which is only $3.87US.
Payment of Salary - Ministry of Manpower
List of minimum wages by country
However it could be argued that we are only looking at Asia. So Portugal has a rate of $4.36 an hour. Spain has a rate of $5.57 an hour, Malta has a rate of $5.64.
Now Germany has a rate of $10.9 an hour which is a new innovation for Germany until recently they had no minimum rate. But Germany is the land of the mini job. This is where you earn €450 a month in a job, where you can quit or be fired at any time. About 4.9 million Germans had one of these in 2009.
Low-paid Germans mind rich-poor gap as elections approach
Marginal employment
Above is a map of the world. The darker the blue the higher the minimum wage. (Wikipedia). Of course much of the world is not as rich as the USA.
Look I think that the statistics provided in this question's details were chosen to support a view that the USA has a low minimum wage. But when you look at the details you see that there are many nations which are developed and have a lower rate which were left off. For the record, I live in a nation which has a higher minimum wage than the USA ($14.25 NZ an hour).
I also note that many nations don't have minimum wages, but leave them up to national bargaining by unions. Italy, Sweden and Austria are like this.
So why is the wage so low? (according to the statistics in the question).
Well views on the correct rate vary across the USA. This is both due to local economic conditions (some places richer than others) and local economic views. Then you have to get two houses of Congress and the President to agree for a change. Currently I do not see a national change as the Republicans hold a majority in the House of Representatives, and their views would be a job is better than no job.
Minimum wage in the United States
Minimum wage in the United States - By juristiction
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