Overview
- Over 880,000 workers in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C. saw their minimum wages rise on July 1 to $13, $15.05 and $17.95 per hour respectively.
- Nine California cities and Los Angeles County increased rates by up to 54 cents, with Emeryville reaching $19.90 and health care workers’ floors rising as high as $24 per hour.
- Chicago’s minimum wage climbed to $16.60 and its tipped minimum to $12.62, while Montgomery County, Maryland, raised its wage floor to $17.65 with the tipped floor remaining $4.
- Many jurisdictions now tie their pay floors to the Consumer Price Index, guaranteeing annual, inflation-linked adjustments.
- Advocates at the National Employment Law Project and Economic Policy Institute spurred these mid-year hikes with research showing that no U.S. county offers a living wage under $17 per hour.