Minimum Wage Workers Across America Get Pay Bump In 2020

NEW YORK, NY — It's officially 2020, and that means millions of low-wage workers just got a small pay bump. Minimum-wage workers in 21 states received raises for the new year, with numerous rates taking effect Jan. 1, 2020.

The federal minimum wage rate has stagnated at $7.25 an hour since 2009. But state lawmakers and voters themselves upped the minimum wage floor. In many cases, counties and cities set their own minimum wage floors.

Twenty-one states enacted minimum wage hikes: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington, according to govdocs.com, which curates government records on employment law for companies.

Low-wage workers in Washington state saw the largest pay bump. In 2016, voters approved a ballot initiative raising the minimum wage floor to $13.50 in 2020. That's nearly double the federal rate. In 2019, that rate was $12 an hour. Furthermore, the law included no provisions for tipped workers.

Several states boosted the minimum wage to $12 an hour, while others saw more modest increases. Florida, for example, saw its minimum wage increase less than 25 cents per hour to $8.46.

A large gap persists in how minimum wage workers who are tipped are treated, the analysis showed. In New Mexico, the 2020 minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.35 an hour, compared with $9 and $8.98 an hour, respectively, in neighboring states Arizona and Colorado.

In New York, the minimum wage increased varying amounts depending on where the worker lived and what industry they're in. On Long Island and in Westchester, the minimum wage increased from $12 an hour to $13 an hour as part of a long term plan to hike it to $15 an hour in 2021. In New York City, workers at small companies saw hourly minimum wages increase from $13.50 to $15, matching the wage for larger companies.

Illinois raised the minimum wage rate to $9.25 an hour as part of a long-term plan to get it to $15 in 2025. The tipped minimum wage next year will be $5.55.

California's minimum wage climbed to $12 an hour, though numerous cities — many of which already had higher wages due to local measures — increased their minimum wages on top of that figure. California's minimum wage has increased $1 each year since 2017 as part of a plan to reach $15 in 2023.