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Low-wage workers in 23 states rang in the new year with the promise of bigger paychecks ahead thanks to widespread increases in the minimum wage.
The pay hikes, ranging from 23 cents an hour in Michigan to $1.50 an hour in Nebraska, will benefit 8.4 million workers, according to a recent estimate by the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank. On the other hand, many states still effectively have a minimum wage no higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, either because they have no minimum wage or it’s set at or below the lowest wage allowed by federal law. The below map shows where minimum wages stand, and how they changed when 2023 arrived.
For years, progressive politicians and organizations have sought to increase the federal minimum wage above its current level. As advocates have pointed out, someone working 40 hours a week at the minimum wage would earn just $15,080 a year, well below the federal poverty level of $27,750 for a family of four. Democrats tried to raise the wage in 2021 as part of a pandemic relief bill, but the effort ran aground in the narrowly-divided Senate. In the meantime, many states have taken matters into their own hands.
In addition to the statewide increases, 27 cities and counties around the country are also boosting their minimum wages, the EPI calculated. Some of this year’s increases were the result of pandemic-era legislation, while others were automatic adjustments from older laws. On top of the increases that took effect with the new year, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Florida, Nevada, and Oregon are set to increase their minimum wages later in the year.
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