Nearly half the states are increasing their minimum wages this year, boosting the pay of an estimated 9.9 million workers, according to the
The 22 states affected as of Jan. 1 include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, as well as Washington state, and Washington, D.C. Later in the year, Nevada, Oregon and Florida will also have minimum wage increases, according to
Thanks to the state minimum wage increases, workers will get an additional $6.95 billion in wages. Minimum wage increases are also happening on the local level, with 38 cities and counties boosting their minimum wages on Jan. 1 above their state’s minimum wage, adding to the number of workers expected to see pay increases.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, women comprise over half (57.9%) of workers getting an increase in the New Year. In addition, over half (51%) of workers seeing minimum wage increases reside in California, Hawaii and New York, states where the cost of living is high. An estimated 19.7% of the workers affected have incomes that fall below the poverty line, while close to half (47.4%) earn incomes below double the poverty line. Over a quarter (25.8%) of the workers seeing a raise are parents, more than 2.5 million people. A total of 5.6 million children live in households where someone will get a minimum wage increase.
A number of cities in California are increasing their minimum wages, including Belmont, Burlingame, Cupertino, Daly City, East Palo Alto, El Cerrito, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hayward, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Novato, Oakland, Palo Alto, Petaluma, Redwood City, Richmond, San Carlos, San Diego, San Jose, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, South San Francisco and Sunnyvale. Other cities and counties outside California boosting the minimum wage this year include Flagstaff, Arizona; Boulder County, Edgewater, and Denver, Colorado; Portland, Maine; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and SeaTac, Seattle and Tukwila, Washington.
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