Average Idaho wage slips against national average in 2013

Idaho's average hourly wage for all occupations was $18.67 per hour in 2013, slipping four-tenths of a percentage point to 83.6 percent of the national average wage, according to estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment Survey.

The decline compares to a 1.2 percentage point drop from 2011 and 2012.

The nation's average wage in 2013 was $22.33.

Idaho's median wage - the wage where half the workers make more and half make less - was $14.68 an hour in 2013. That was 87 percent of the national median wage of $16.87, down three-tenths of a percentage point from 2012.

Idaho's average wage ranked 47th among states, down from 46th in 2012. The median wage ranked 45th, down from 43rd a year earlier.

Idaho's average wage ranged from $9.46 for food preparation and serving-related occupations to $38.03 for legal occupations.