Over the last 50 years, the chasm between average worker pay and CEO compensation has cracked wide open. Between 1978 and 2024, chief executive pay spiked by 1,094%, according to the Economic Policy Institute—which means the average CEO earns 281 times the average worker. 

A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive research organization, captures how this disparity persists across some of the largest companies in the country and how the low-wage workers they employ are forced to rely on public benefits. 

The report drew on the S&P 500 and tallied a list of 20 companies that have been dubbed the “Low-Wage 20,” which includes some of the usual suspects from the retail and grocery sectors, from Amazon and Walmart to Target and Kroger. The following employers round out the full list: Autozone, Best Buy, Chipotle, Costco, Darden Restaurants, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, FedEx, Home Depot, Lowe’s, MGM Resorts, O’Reilly Automotive, Ross Stores, Starbucks, TJX, and Tyson Foods. 

“Amazon pay is among the best in the industry—well over double the federal minimum wage and significantly more than other retailers,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “Pointing fingers at Amazon over SNAP and/or Medicaid is a red herring when eligibility is based on total household income and size—and not individual wages. For example, two employees who work at the same site and earn identical pay in the same state can have completely different SNAP or Medicaid eligibility depending on whether they support children, elderly parents, or are the sole earner in their household.”

“As we’ve said for years, what really needs to happen is a significant and large increase in the federal minimum wage—that would be a big boost for American families,” the spokesperson continued.

In a statement, a Starbucks spokesperson said the company “offers the best job in retail, backed by competitive pay, industry‑leading benefits, and strong career growth opportunities.”

“Partners working just 20 hours a week receive comprehensive healthcare, Bean Stock equity grants, and full tuition coverage, and all partners are eligible for our company‑matched 401(k),” the spokesperson added. “Our approach is reflected in the fact that partners stay with Starbucks at far higher rates than the retail average, and more than a million people apply each year to join our team.”

The other companies named in the report were not immediately available for comment when reached by Fast Company. 

Public assistance as corporate welfare?

In total, the companies highlighted by the report employ about 6.7 million people. Even the highest median wage of the bunch did not cross $48,000—and while employers are not required to disclose how many of their workers use public benefits like the SNAP food aid program or Medicaid, the report shows that plenty of workers at these companies are not paid enough money to cover basic needs. 

In 2024, the median pay across 13 of the employers named in the report would have qualified a family of three for SNAP benefits, falling below the income threshold of $33,576. Across Nevada—where state law dictates that the government publish data on Medicaid enrollees at large companies—nearly 78% of Amazon and Walmart employees are on Medicaid.  

The report argues that the companies in question are effectively “using public assistance as corporate welfare” by keeping their wages so low. 

“When they’re allowed to shift so much of their employees’ basic living costs onto taxpayers, that means we are supporting these poverty wage business models,” says Sarah Anderson, who authored the study and oversees the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. 

“I think this is a big part of the affordability debate that isn’t getting enough attention. Most of the attention is on rising costs for things like housing and groceries, and all that is a major concern. But if we didn’t have this poverty wage business model and wage suppression related to the anti-union tactics of these companies, we wouldn’t have an affordability crisis right now because wages would be significantly higher—and people wouldn’t be worrying about putting food on the table or a roof over their head.”

Many workers are barely getting by 

Even as some of these companies have boosted hourly wages, Anderson says, they continue to heavily employ part-time workers and seasonal hires—which means many of their workers are not entitled to health care benefits, for example. 

“We have been hearing so much from a lot of these companies about how they’re raising their bottom wage level, and they’ll brag about their average pay,” Anderson says. “But when you look at median pay . . . it includes part-time workers. That’s where you get a much clearer picture because so many of these companies have chosen to have a business model based on part-time employees.” 

In other words: Even when their employers are profitable and hugely successful, many of these workers are still struggling to make ends meet. 

Anderson’s analysis also found that while workers may have benefited from temporary wage increases during the pandemic, those gains did not stick: In fact, between 2019 and 2024, median pay actually dropped by 4.6% across the 20 employers featured in the report, from $30,474 to $29,087 (when adjusted for inflation). 

It’s not entirely clear why this is the case; the reports note that at Costco, the dip in pay could be attributed to a significant amount of pandemic-era turnover that led to an influx of entry-level workers who were paid lower wages. FedEx saw a drop-off in median pay after major layoffs that slashed thousands of jobs. At other companies, however, the report posits the cause may be an uptick in the number of part-time workers. 

CEO pay keeps rising

In the meantime, however, CEO pay has continued to climb, with chief executives like Brian Niccol of Starbucks boasting overall compensation valued at over $95 million. (Median pay for its workers, by comparison, was $14,674.) Average CEO pay across all 20 companies highlighted in the report was $18.6 million. 

One finding in the report really illustrates how much business leaders have benefited from ballooning executive compensation, even as their workers have seen few gains: At least 16 billionaires in the country—half of whom are from the Walton family, heirs to Walmart—have built their fortunes through the 20 companies in the report, and on the backs of the labor of low-wage workers. 

“They owe their wealth to the challenging labor that all these workers have put into creating value in these companies,” Anderson says. “And yet [these workers] still have to struggle to get by and even rely on public assistance.”