The minimum wage is a legally set minimum amount that employers must pay their employees to be within the law. While most states have their own state minimum wage, in states that have not set one, they must accord with the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour.
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While $7.25 per hour is barely a living wage in many states, it is all an employer is obligated to pay, which puts many workers in the position of having to work multiple jobs. According to The Balance, if minimum wage had kept up with cost of living (most easily determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index), it should have reached $10.15 in 2019. And, factoring in things like productivity and inflation, it should have been $24 by 2020. As it stands now, though, the highest minimum wage in America is $15 in California.
Many states have tried to rectify this imbalance by setting a higher minimum wage than the federal allowance. Here, GOBankingRates examines the minimum wage in every state, and notes any states where there are plans for increases in the future.
In some states you’ll notice that in addition to a minimum wage there is a “tipped minimum wage.” What this means is that certain employees who earn regular tips — such as waitresses, food servers and bartenders — may be paid a minimum wage lower than the state or federal minimum, so long...
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