21 US states raise minimum wage in 2025

A total of 21 US states raised their minimum wage per hour starting Jan.1, 2025, to support workers in keeping up with inflation.

According to a recent report of the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute (EPI), 9.2 million employees will benefit from these wage increases.

EPI said that the total value of the proposed increases amounts to $5.7 billion, while 48 other cities and suburbs announced plans to raise the minimum wage above the levels set by their respective states, according to the National Public Radio (NPR).

Following this new measure, Washington will be paying the highest average minimum wage at $16.66 per hour, followed by California and New York at $16.50 per hour.

More than 12 US states—most of them in the South—will be unable to raise the minimum wage either due to a lack of local legislation on the matter or because they are restricted from raising it above the federal level of $7.50 per hour, according to ABC News.

The last time the federal minimum wage was raised was in 2009 when Congress passed the measure. When adjusted for inflation, the real federal minimum wage is currently at its lowest level since February 1956, according to EPI estimates.