The new year means higher wages for many Americans. Twenty-three states increased minimum wage on Jan. 1. An additional 27 cities and counties also raised minimum wage with the start of 2023. And by the end of 2023, 27 states will make minimum wage increases.
An estimated 8.4 million U.S. workers are going to get an increase in pay, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
In states such as Arizona, Montana and New Mexico, minimum wage rates are getting a boost, ranging from $0.23 to $1.50 more per hour. Utah is not among the 23 states that increased minimum wage on Jan. 1, and still offers the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
The federal minimum wage has not been raised in 14 years. In 2009, when the federal minimum wage was raised from $6.55 to $7.25, the minimum pay per hour went a lot further — $7.25 had the same buying power as $10.22 does today, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With this year’s increased minimum wage rates, two states will join California by hitting (and exceeding) a $15 minimum wage. With the highest minimum wage nationwide, Washington state now pays $15.74 per hour and Massachusetts will pay $15 per hour, per the Department of Labor.
According the the Economy Policy Institute, women and people of color will benefit most from the recent increased minimum wage rates.
“More than 2 million parents will get a raise, including more than a million single parents,” stated the institute. “We estimate that more than 5.7 million children live in households that will see an increase in earnings at the start of the new year.”
Minimum wage rates will continue to increase throughout 2023
By the end of 2023, six states will meet or exceed a $15 per hour minimum wage, per the National Employment Law Project. These states include California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Washington. In addition, 51 cities and counties will offer at least $15 per hour by the end of 2023.
In 2023, 27 states and 56 cities and counties will increase minimum wage rates, per the project estimate, Utah does not have plans to increase the minimum wage this year.
Will Utah ever raise its minimum wage?
As previously reported by the Deseret News, 30 U.S. states offer workers more than the federal $7.25 per hour minimum, but Utah is not among them.
According to data from the Department of Labor Statistics, during the past two decades, Utah has consistently matched federal minimum wage rates.
In 2021, Rep, Clare Collard, D-Salt Lake, proposed a bill that would increase Utah’s minimum wage to $15 per hour over a four-year period. The bill, HB284, made it to a hearing in front of the House Business and Labor Committee, but the proposal was voted to get tabled in a 10-3 vote, and no further efforts were made, the Deseret News reported.
Which states raised minimum wage in January 2023?
Here is the list of the 23 states that raised minimum wage rates on Jan. 1, 2023, according to National Employment Law Project data.
- Alaska: $10.85, up from $10.34.
- Arizona: $13.85, up from $12.80.
- California: $15.50, up from $14 for small employers and $15 for large employers.
- Colorado: $13.65, up from $12.56.
- Delaware: $11.75, up from $10.50.
- Illinois: $13, up from $12.
- Maine: $13.80, up from $12.75.
- Maryland: $13.25 for large employers and $12.80 for small employers, up from $12.50 and $12.20.
- Massachusetts: $15, up from $14.25.
- Michigan: $10.10, up from $9.87.
- Minnesota: $10.59 for large employers and $8.63 for small employers, up from $10.33 and $8.42.
- Missouri: $12, up from $11.15.
- Montana: $9.95, up from $9.20.
- Nebraska: $10.50, up from $9.
- New Jersey: $14 for standard workers, up from $13.
- New Mexico: $12, up from $11.50.
- New York: $15 for New York City and suburbs and $14.20 upstate, up from $13.20 upstate.
- Ohio: $10.10, up from $9.30.
- Rhode Island: $13, up from $12.25.
- South Dakota: $10.80, up from $9.95.
- Vermont: $13.18, up from $12.55.
- Virginia: $12, up from $11.
- Washington: $15.74, up from $14.49.