FILE - A customer picks up a meal bag at a McDonald's drive-thru window in Los Angeles on Sept. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The minimum wage is going up for millions of workers this year in nearly two dozen states.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, hourly minimum wages increased in 21 states when the clock struck midnight as we welcomed 2025.
Those wage increases will reportedly impact an estimated 9.2 million workers and raise pay by a total of $5.7 billion.
“These additional earnings are critical for ensuring workers don’t lose ground due to rising prices, but the minimum wage level may still be too low, especially if the minimum wage was indexed years ago and not revisited since,” economic analyst Sebastian Martinez Hickey wrote.
CNN reports that rampant inflation over the last few years has caused the cost of living to soar along and has pushed calls for a $17 federal minimum wage.
The federal minimum wage currently sits at $7.25 an hour, a rate that hasn’t changed since 2009.
The states that are reporting a boost for minimum-wage workers this year are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
Economic analysts say most of the January wage increases are happening due to state laws that are adjusting annually for inflation.
Workers in Delaware will reportedly be seeing the largest state increase taking effect this year.
“Legislation will lift the minimum wage by $1.75 to $15 per hour. As a result, the average full-time worker affected by the increase will earn $1,200 more annually,” Hickey shared.
Fast-food workers in California also have a minimum wage of $20 an hour that went into effect last year.