Twenty states across the country will raise their minimum wage on the first day of 2015, increasing the pay of more than 3.1 million workers.
In nine of the states where minimum-wage increases will occur, they are the result of automatic increases meant to keep up with inflation,
according to the liberal Economic Policy Institute. These states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington.
In 11 states and the District of Columbia, the minimum wage will increase because of either laws that were passed in state legislatures or ballot initiatives passed by voters. Such increases will take place in Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia.
Both Delaware and Minnesota will have minimum-wage increases later in the year.
Alaska, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, Vermont, and the District of Columbia all passed laws to implement routine inflationary adjustments to take place in future years, making the number of states with automatic indexing a total of 15.
Once all of the increases take place, 29 states as well as the District of Columbia will have minimum wages that are higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
The increases range from 12 cents in Florida, where the rate will increase to $8.05 per hour, to $1.25 in South Dakota, where the rate will be $8.50 per hour.
The increases will give workers an additional $1.6 billion in wages throughout the year.
The highest minimum wage in the country in 2015 will be in the District of Columbia, at $9.5,0 with Washington state close behind at $9.47. Georgia and Wyoming are the lowest in the country at $5.15 per hour,
according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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