I intended to have the discussion with the person who posted the comments I listed. Each of them were rhetorical comments, not based on fact, but based on a misunderstanding of the way things work. It is clear that he (or she) and many other people, many of whom are active in the Occupy Movement just don't have a lot of facts to work with- they work on feeling. That is not how problems are solved. Now to deal with the facts YOU listed, which I find hard to believe, but because I don't live there I'll assume they are correct.
I list this one first because it will be the simplest one to deal with. The Federal Minimum Wage is higher than this, which usually is accounted for by companies utilizing the labor of illegal immigrants, contrary to Federal Law. It also means that companies reported average wages at below the FMW. That would just be dumb, because it would expose their illegal activities. There is an agreesive US Department of Labor that will entertain any claims of minimum wage violations for American Citizens.
This is just a broader statistic of the one we just discussed, so illegal labor also dilutes the numbers. I will concede that is is highly possible that Rio Grande has a very low median wage due to the volume of agriculture business. The great thing about a capitalistic economy is that it is capitalitic for all. Wages are set by the market- just as prices for goods and services are set by the market. A company will pay a worker based also on the value of that worker to the company. The employee has the opportunity to either make themselves more valuable (and less disposable) to the company. If they do that and still are underpaid based on the market, they should look for another job. You get to choose where you work, just as companies get to choose who they hire. The economy is very difficult right now for businesses as well as employees.
And I don't disagree with your statement about 20 percent of people below the FPL, but that and these other statistics are not the fault of corporations and businesses, generally, and are impertinent to the argument I was making that debates have to commence at some basis of fact, not feeling- in order to result in compromise or solutions.