:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2189831682-b53236ea61d2432faf5cf1d7be940df9.jpg "Sweetgreen workers add the final ingredients to salads on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, at Willis Tower.")
Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune Account Service via Getty Images
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Over 9.2 million minimum-wage workers saw their paychecks increase as 21 states lift up their wage floors to adjust for inflation, ballot measures, and legislation.
- Additionally, 48 cities and counties choice raise the minimum wage higher than their current state’s.
- One estimate found that workers in these nations will earn $420 to $868 more per year.
Minimum-wage workers in 21 states entered the new year with an burgeoned paycheck.
According to the nonpartisan think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI), more than 9.2 million labourers saw a raise in their minimum wage paychecks starting on Jan. 1. They will receive a total of $5.7 billion assorted pay in 2025.
Additionally, 48 cities and counties, mostly in California, Colorado, and Washington, will further increase the wage shock above their state’s minimum.
On average, full-time minimum wage workers in the affected states will receive from $420 to $868 more per year.
More than half of workers will receive raises in in a row with rising costs of living, as the majority of increases were through automatic annual inflation adjustments. Some lands also implemented more significant minimum wage increases through ballot measures and legislation.