Early 2021 has seen or will see minimum wage hikes in 20 states and 32 cities and counties, with 27 cities and counties setting the minimum wage at or above $15 per hour, according to a National Employment Law Project report.
Eleven states will see minimum wage increases to account for cost-of-living adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index, and 24 cities and counties will see the minimum wage adjusted for inflation, according to the report.
Down the road this year, five states and 18 cities and counties will see minimum wage increases, with the minimum wage reaching or exceeding $15 per hour in 13 cities. Nine of those cities and counties will see the minimum wage increase due to cost-of-living adjustments, according to the report.
The report argues that the minimum wage increases are vital for the well-being of workers, and that workers across the country would continue to push for minimum wage increases in the near future.
For their part, two healthcare systems, Charlotte, N.C.-based Novant Health and West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health, independently elected to raise their minimum wages in late 2020, with Novant Health announcing an increase from $12.50 to $15 per hour and UnityPoint announcing an increase to $15 per hour.
Here are the new minimum wages in states that have or will become effective in early 2021:
- Alaska: $10.34
- Arkansas: $11.00
- Arizona: $12.15
- California: $14.00 for large employers, $13.00 for small employers
- Colorado: $12.32
- Florida: $8.65
- Illinois: $11.00
- Maine: $12.15
- Maryland: $11.75 for large employers, $11.60 for small employers
- Massachusetts: $13.50
- Minnesota: $10.08 for large employers, $8.21 for small employers
- Missouri: $10.30
- Montana: $8.75
- New Jersey: $12.00 standard, $11.10 small for small employers
- New Mexico: $10.50
- New York: $14.00 for Long Island and Westchester, $12.50 for Upstate
- Ohio: $8.80
- South Dakota: $9.45
- Vermont: $11.75
- Washington State: $13.69
For all jurisdiction minimum wage increases in 2021 announced thus far, read the full report.
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