Minimum wage hikes now effective in 23 states, increasing pay for 8.4 million workers

The minimum wage hikes that took effect Jan. 1 in 23 states and Washington, D.C., will bring pay increases to an estimated 8.4 million workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Almost 55% of the affected workers are age 25 or older, and 45% work full time.

“Although workers with only a high school degree or less education are the group most likely to be affected, 40.9% of affected workers have at least some college experience,” EPI researchers note on the organization’s “Working Economics Blog.” “Importantly, more than 2 million parents will get a raise, including more than a million single parents. In total, we estimate that more than 5.7 million children live in households that will see an increase in earnings at the start of the new year.”

All told, according to the EPI, workers’ wages will increase by more than $5 billion, with the annual average raises for impacted full-time workers ranging from $150 in Michigan (which implemented a 23-cent raise to $10.10 per hour) to $937 in Delaware (where a $1.25 raise to $11.75 per hour took effect). The biggest pay hike ($1.50) is in Nebraska, where the new minimum wage is now $10.50 per hour. The state with the highest minimum wage now is Washington, where a $1.25 increase put the hourly pay rate at $15.74, while Montana’s 75-cent increase only pushed the minimum wage to $9.95 per hour.

“Because of long-standing discrimination and occupational segregation, women and workers of color make up the majority of low-wage U.S. workers,” EPI researchers write. “Consequently, it is not surprising that the majority (58.7%) of workers affected by these minimum wage hikes are women, and workers of color are affected at disproportionate rates as well. The most concentrated impacts are among Hispanic workers (21.8% affected), Black workers (12.2%), and multiracial and Native American workers (14.4%) — groups that make up 20.1%, 9.5%, and 2.0% of the overall workforce in the affected states, respectively. These increases will also have a meaningful impact for workers struggling to make ends meet: 23.2% of affected workers have incomes below the poverty line, while another 26.5% have incomes below twice the poverty line.”

Related: Wage transparency laws coming to a state or city near you

Thirty states, along with Washington, D.C., and 46 localities, have higher minimum wages than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.