Unions representing health care workers, fast food workers and other industries are increasingly flexing their power, as employees take to the picket lines this summer.
Across industries, workers are seeking improved benefits, better working conditions and most commonly, increased wages.
In California, nearly 1 million fast food and healthcare workers are set to get a major raise after a deal was announced earlier this week between labor unions and industries.
Under the new bill, most of California’s 500,000 fast food workers will be paid at least $20 per hour next year. And a separate bill will increase health care workers’ salaries to at least $25 per hour over the next 10 years.
How does minimum wage for health care and fast-food employees compare in other states?
Minimum wage varies across the US, see map
Fifteen states have laws in place that make minimum wages equivalent to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, according to the Department of Labor. Another five states have no minimum wage laws.
Which states have the lowest minimum wage?
The following states require businesses to pay employees a wage that’s equivalent or higher to the federal minimum wage at $7.25:
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- New Hampshire
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Utah
- Wisconsin
Which states have the highest minimum wage?
Washington, DC has the highest minimum wage of any state of territory in US at $16.50 an hour. Washington state has the highest minimum wage of any state in the country at $15.74 per hour, followed by California at $15.50. These following states have minimum wages higher than the federal level:
- Washington, DC, $16.50
- Washington, $15.74
- California, $15.50
- Massachusetts, $15.00
- New York, $14.20
- New Jersey, $14.13
- Connecticut, $14.00
- Arizona, $13.85
- Maryland, $13.80
- Maine, $13.80
- Colorado, $13.65
- Oregon, $13.50
- Vermont, $13.18
- Rhode Island, $13.00
- Illinois, $13.00
- Missouri, $12.00
- New Mexico, $12.00
- Virginia, $12.00
- Delaware, $11.75
- Arkansas, $11.00
- Florida, $11.00
- Hawaii, $11.00
- Alaska, $10.85
- South Dakota, $10.80
- Minnesota, $10.59
- Nebraska, $10.50
- Nevada, $10.50
- Michigan, $10.10
- Ohio, $10.10
- Montana, $9.95
- West Virginia, $8.75
Which states have no minimum wage laws?
There is no minimum wage law in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina or Tennessee, so minimum wages default to federal law at $7.25. In Georgia and Wyoming, the state minimum wage is lower than the federal minimum wage at $5.15 an hour. But, many employers are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act and must pay the current Federal minimum wage.
Do minimum wage laws vary within a state?
Nevada has two tiers of minimum wage: Employers that provide health benefits must pay workers at least $9.50 an hour, while employers that do not provide health benefits must pay at least $10.50 an hour.
How many workers make federal minimum wage or less?
According to the Department of Labor, 78.7 million workers age 16 and older were paid at hourly rates, making up 55.6% of all wage and salary workers. Of those hourly workers, about 1 million were paid wages at or below the federal minimum wage, making up 1.3% of all hourly paid workers.
