The new year saw minimum wage hikes in 23 states and Washington, DC. This wage hike is considered a shot in the arm for many essential and frontline workers who have no choice but to risk their health working with the public to make a living.
A Short History of Minimum Wages Increases
It has been 13 years since Congress last raised the federal minimum wage.
Back in 2021, the largest increase was seen in New Mexico. A $1.50 hike to the state’s hourly minimum rate will increase to $10.50/hour. Increases of $1 an hour were added in Arkansas, California, Illinois, and New Jersey. Many states saw lower wage increases; Alaska, Maine, and South Dakota bumped their rate by only 0.15 cents an hour. Minnesota raised their rate a mere 8 cents to $10.08 an hour.
Michigan is raising the hourly minimum wage by a mere 23 cents—the least of all states that rose last year—whereas Nebraska boasts the most significant hike at $1.50 per hour.
Additional increases will occur in cities and several states, with most advances taking force on July 1.
2023 Minimum Wage Calculator for Any State
If you wonder what you would earn working at a starting wage, we have this neat calculator for you. Just fill in the blanks; the calculated result reveals your gross earnings. Of course, this does not account for taxes and Social Security. Thinking of moving and wanting to move to a new state? Check out the results in multiple states and see the results. You may be surprised.
What is the Current Federal Minimum Wage in 2023?
History of the United States Minimum Wage
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed America’s first federal wage into law in 1938. The rate was $0.25 per hour. In 1950 the minimum wage had risen to $0.75 per hour. By 1968 it was $1.60 per hour. The rate was frozen at $3.35 per hour from January 1981 to April 1990. In 1997 it was $5.15 per hour. In 2009 the wage was raised to $7.25, where it remains to this day.
The Living Wage Concept
Contrast this to the other term, the Living Wage. Or the wage one needs to accommodate rent, food, utilities to live. The nationwide consensus is that one would have to earn $16.40 per hour to have a living wage. This wage varies by local, and there is a great deal of interest in its establishment.
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