2000 a month is really tight, even if you live in some of the cheapest rural towns in America. If you have a family, it’s poverty wage.
Depends on state and family status, but probably not. Someone making $28k/yr is paying pretty much FICA taxes and not much else federally speaking.
If they happen to have any dependents then they are probably paying negative tax rates via the EITC. Sometimes substantially so.
Source: I do taxes for a about a dozen folks "back home" growing up in a more economically disadvantaged area than average.