Lots of low-wage workers just received a boost in pay, as more than a dozen states and localities increased their minimum wages.
Oregon beefed up its hourly minimum wage by 70 cents to $14.20 as of July 1, while Nevada increased its minimum wage by 75 cents to $11.25, according to a tally by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Washington, DC, raised its minimum wage by 90 cents to $17.
In Connecticut, the hourly minimum wage rose by $1 to $15 on June 1.
In addition, 15 cities and counties, mostly in California, increased their hourly minimum wages on July 1. They include the city of Los Angeles, where the minimum wage jumped 74 cents to $16.78; San Francisco and Berkeley, where it rose $1.08 to $18.07; and Malibu, where it increased 94 cents to $16.90 an hour.
Minimum wage workers in Chicago received a 40-cent boost, bringing their hourly pay to $15.80. And those in Maryland's Montgomery County are now paid $16.70 an hour, an increase of $1.05.
Many of the boosts are automatic adjustments linked to inflation. The raises are larger than they have been historically because of higher prices. In Connecticut and Nevada, lawmakers passed scheduled increases in 2019.
The summer pay boost follows minimum wage hikes in 23 states and nearly 30 cities and counties that took effect on January 1.
Florida will increase its minimum wage to $12 an hour on September 30, thanks to a ballot measure approved in 2020.
Local action
The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since 2009. Democratic lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to increase it several times.
Some 21 states use the federal minimum wage as their wage floor, EPI said.
Other states and localities, however, have taken action, raising their minimum wages in recent years. Connecticut is now the fourth state where the hourly minimum wage is at least $15, joining California, Washington and Massachusetts, as well as Washington, DC.
States and municipalities are also increasing their "tipped minimum wage," which is paid to certain groups of employees, such as restaurant workers.
The tipped minimum wage in Washington, DC, rose by $2 to $8 an hour because of a ballot measure that passed last November. It will phase out by 2027.
The tipped minimum wage also increased in Chicago by 24 cents to $9.48 an hour and in Cook County, Illinois, by 20 cents to $8 an hour.
Some 16 states use the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 an hour. And the level is below $5 in another 13 states. But seven states, including Nevada, Oregon, California and Minnesota, have eliminated their tipped minimum wage.