Millions of America’s lowest-paid workers are set to get raises in 2017, as 21 states and at least 22 cities boost their minimum wage.
Although the bump in pay may largely go unnoticed for some minimum wage workers — like those in Missouri, where the minimum wage is getting a nudge from $7.25 to $7.70 an hour — that likely won’t be the case in places like Arizona, where the state’s minimum wage will shoot up by 24 percent, from $8.05 to $10 an hour, on Jan. 1, CNN Money reports.
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 hasn’t budged since it was set in 2009, forcing many local governments to tackle the issue on their own.
During the November election, voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington gave their thumbs-up to plans to hike their states’ minimum wage. Increases in those states range between 43 and 60 percent, and will begin next year before being fully implemented in subsequent years.
According to CNN Money, the vast majority of minimum wage increases will go into effect on Jan. 1, although some workers — those in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Oregon — will have to wait until July to see their pay rise.
Minimum-wage workers in the following states will have their hourly pay rate boosted to the following levels in 2017:
- Alaska — $9.80
- Arizona — $10.00
- Arkansas — $8.50
- California — $10.00 or $10.50, depending on size of business
- Colorado — $9.30
- Connecticut — $10.10
- Florida — $8.10
- Hawaii — $9.25
- Maine — $9.00
- Maryland — $9.25 (in July)
- Massachusetts — $11.00
- Michigan — $8.90
- Missouri — $7.70
- Montana — $8.15
- New Jersey — $8.44
- New York — $9.70 to $11, depending on where you live
- Ohio — $8.15
- Oregon — $10.25 (in July)
- South Dakota — $8.65
- Vermont — $10.00
- Washington — $11.00
Click here to see which municipalities in the U.S. are boosting their minimum wage in the new year.
If you’re waiting for an initiative like these to boost your pay in 2017, check out “10 Ways to Save Money When You’re Making Minimum Wage.”
Do you think the federal minimum wage should be increased? Sound off below or on Facebook.
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