By Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief

ICYMI: Federal Minimum Wage Is Worth 17% Less Now

In case you missed it, the federal minimum wage is worth 17% less now, thanks to rising inflation. Inflation has risen 8.5% since last year, the highest it's been since the early 1980s. For workers earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, that means the value of their pay has dropped 17% since the federal minimum wage was last raised in 2009, and they have less buying power now than they did 13 years ago.

While the federal minimum wage hasn't changed in over a decade, many states have increased the minimum wage they require employers to pay workers. However, only workers in states with a minimum wage of $8.75 or higher as of 2021 have seen their wages keep pace with inflation.

For workers in states that haven't raised the minimum wage, like Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina, paycheck amounts haven't changed. And thanks to inflation, it's as if those workers actually earn $6.02 per hour instead of $7.25.

With rising inflation causing the cost of groceries, clothes, goods, and services to spike, many workers earning the federal minimum wage do not have enough income to cover the higher costs of living.

- Kristin

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Off the Charts

The Balance's analysis found that more workers on the West Coast and in the Northeast are paid higher minimum wages than those workers in most Southern and interior states. The Northeast states of New Hampshire and Pennsylvania are exceptions, as workers in both states make $7.25 an hour. Washington, D.C., currently has the highest minimum wage in the nation, at $15.20 per hour, which is more than double the federal minimum wage.