What Is the Minimum Wage in 2024?
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Updated on Nov. 6.
Six states had wages and sick leave on the ballot this election season. Here’s how the measures fared.
Alaska: Ballot Measure 1
Increases the minimum wage to $15 per hour by July 2027. The current minimum wage is $11.73 per hour.
Requires businesses with 15 employees or more to provide employees with sick leave. Employees have the ability to accrue up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year.
Requires businesses with fewer than 15 employees to provide employees with sick leave. Employees have the ability to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year.
Prohibits employers from taking adverse action against an employee who refuses to attend employer-sponsored meetings regarding religious or political matters.
Result: Votes are still being counted.
Arizona: Proposition 138
Allows tipped workers to be paid 25% less per hour ($3.58) than the current minimum wage ($14.35). That means tipped workers can be paid a total of $10.77 per hour. But the tipped worker’s take-home pay, including tips, must equal that minimum wage plus $2 per hour.
Currently, tipped workers may earn $11.35 per hour — three-dollars less than the minimum wage of $14.35 per hour — so long as their take-home pay with tips equals the minimum wage.
Result: Struck down.
California: Proposition 32
Increases the state minimum wage to $18 per hour by 2026 for all employers. After that, rate increases are tied to the cost of living.
Employers with 26 or more employees must raise wages from the current wage of $17 per hour to $18 per hour in 2025. Employers with 25 or fewer employees must raise wages from the current wage of $16 per hour to $17 per hour in 2025 then increase to $18 per hour in 2026.
Result: Votes are still being counted.
Massachusetts: Question 5
Gradually increases the wage for tipped employees on Jan. 1 of each year until it matches the state minimum wage on Jan. 1, 2029. Tipping would still be permitted in addition to the minimum wage. The current minimum wage for non-tipped employees is $15 per hour, while the current minimum wage for tipped employees in Massachusetts is $6.75 per hour plus tips.
Here’s how the increases would work:
2025: Increase to 64% of the state minimum wage.
2026: Increase to 73% of the state minimum wage.
2027: 82% of the state minimum wage.
2028: Increase to 91% of the state minimum wage.
2029: Increase to 100% of the state minimum wage.
Result: Struck down.
Missouri: Proposition A
Establishes a $13.75 per hour minimum wage by 2025, which would rise to $15 per hour by 2026. The current minimum wage in Missouri is $12.30 per hour.
Requires employers to provide employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
Requires businesses with 15 or fewer employees to provide at least five paid sick days per year while businesses that employ more than 15 people must provide at least seven paid sick days per year.
Result: Approved.
Nebraska: Initiative 436
Requires businesses to provide earned paid sick leave for employees:
Businesses with at least 20 employees must provide up to seven paid sick days.
Businesses with fewer than 20 employees must provide up to five paid sick days.
Result: Approved.
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not budged since 2009 despite a steady increase to the costs of living, which has accelerated into skyrocketing inflation in recent years.
As of 2024, 30 states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages set above the federal minimum.
Minimum wage over time
The minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation when you look at nominal wages (not adjusted for inflation) versus their spending power in 2023 numbers (adjusted for inflation).
Because the federal minimum wage has not changed since 2009, its real purchasing power has decreased dramatically. Decreased purchasing power means it’s even more difficult for workers to live on a minimum wage.
State minimum wages in 2024
The minimum wage varies by state. Five states have no minimum wage laws, but the federal minimum wage still applies; those include Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. In certain states, the minimum wage is more, depending on whether a particular city or region within that state sets a higher minimum.
Does raising the minimum wage cause inflation?
No. The federal minimum wage is set by the government and does not directly correlate with inflation. The current inflationary conditions were not caused by the minimum wage, which has not changed since 2009.
Do all workers earn at least the minimum wage?
All workers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act must be paid at least the federal minimum wage and may earn more if the state minimum wage is higher.
According to the Department of Labor, workers not covered by the FLSA, who may earn less than minimum wage, include:
Employees of certain seasonal amusement or recreational establishments.
Employees of certain small newspapers or newspaper delivery workers.
Seamen employed on foreign vessels or employees engaged in fishing operations.
Certain farmworkers.
Casual babysitters.
Companions to older people or the infirm.
Executive, administrative and professional employees.
Those workers are also exempt from overtime pay. (Learn more about who is — and isn’t — eligible for overtime pay on the Department of Labor website.)
Do tipped workers earn the minimum wage?
Tipped employees rely on tips from customers to supplement their wages. They must be paid a minimum of $2.13 per hour — known as a cash wage — in addition to tips in order to reach the federal minimum of $7.25. Learn more about minimum wages for tipped workers. » MORE: Gig drivers want a minimum wage. Here’s how that’s going for them
What states are increasing minimum wages in 2024?
Each year, 14 states plus Washington, D.C., automatically set minimum wage increases according to the growth of inflation, usually tied to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index, or CPI. If the index doesn’t change, neither does the minimum wage. And some states have annual caps on annual inflation increases, such as California (3.5%), Minnesota (2.5%) and Vermont (5%).
States that tie minimum wage increases to inflation adjust their wages as of Jan. 1, unless otherwise listed, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Those states include:
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
District of Columbia (adjusts July 1)
Maine
Minnesota
Montana
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Oregon (adjusts July 1)
South Dakota.
Vermont
Washington
» MORE: Is the pay gap real?
Minimum wage increases
What is the median household income in the U.S.?
The median household income in the U.S. is $74,580, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey data for 2022. Find out the median household income in your area.
