Minimum wage set to rise in 23 states next year as $15 an hour, and beyond, picks up steam [View all]
Source: USA Today
Published 5:08 a.m. ET Dec. 9, 2024 | Updated 5:08 a.m. ET Dec. 9, 2024
Minimum wage hikes traditionally have been aimed at helping low-paid workers afford the basics, such as food, medicine and housing. But a growing number of states and localities are raising their pay floors to $15 an hour or above, providing workers a somewhat larger financial cushion so they can not only pay for essentials with less of a struggle but also make some discretionary purchases.
Twenty-one states and 48 cities and counties are set to raise their minimum wages on January 1, according to a report provided exclusively to USA TODAY by the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group. Others states and few more cities and counties will raise their minimum wages later in 2025. While the pay floor bumps mark an annual ritual, the report highlights an acceleration in the size of minimum wage increases in recent years.
What states are raising the minimum wage to $15?
On New Year’s Day, three states – Illinois, Delaware and Rhode Island – will reach a $15 pay base for the first time, joining seven states already there or above it. Two states, California and New Jersey, are set to push their pay floors further above $17 for some health care workers.
Meanwhile, 47 localities will also reach or top $15 on Jan. 1, including more than two dozen in California, most of which will climb further above $17. Burien, Washington, already subject to the state’s $16.28 minimum pay, will vault to $21.16 for employers with 500 or more workers in King County, making it the nation’s highest pay floor.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/12/09/minimum-wage-hikes-2025/76710608007/
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