The Federal Minimum Wage Hasn’t Budged Since 2009. 20 States Are Fine With That.

88 Jurisdictions Raise Pay in 2026

Starting January 1, 2026, workers in 19 states and 49 cities will see bigger paychecks.

By the end of the year, 88 jurisdictions will have raised their minimum wage floors. Washington state hits $17. 13 per hour.

A Seattle suburb called Tukwila reaches $21. 65. Six states cross the $15 mark for the first time. But while half the country moves forward, 20 states remain frozen at $7.

25 an hour, a rate that hasn’t changed since Barack Obama’s first year in office. The divide keeps growing, and geography now determines whether you can afford groceries.

$7.25 Since July 2009

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7. 25 per hour for over 16 years, the longest stretch without an increase since the law was created in 1938.

Back when Congress last raised it, a gallon of gas cost $2.50 and the iPhone 3GS had just come out. Since then, inflation has eaten away about 30% of that wage’s purchasing power.

A full-time worker earning minimum wage today makes roughly $6,800 less per year in real terms than someone doing the same job in 1968, when the minimum wage hit its peak value.

Washington Leads All States

Washington state’s minimum wage rises to $17.13 on January 1, 2026, the highest statewide rate in the country.

That’s more than double the federal floor. Several cities in the Seattle area go even higher.
Tukwila tops the nation at $21.65 per hour for all covered employers.

Seattle hits $21.30. Burien reaches $21. 63 and Renton gets to $21.57. The state ties its wage to inflation, so it adjusts automatically each year without legislators having to vote on it.

Six States Hit $15 Milestone

For the first time, six states will reach or exceed a $15 minimum wage in 2026: Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Hawaii sees the biggest single jump, going from $14 to $16 per hour on January 1, on track to hit $18 by 2028.

Nebraska rises from $13.50 to $15 under a voter-approved plan. In total, 17 states plus Washington, D.C. will have $15-plus wage floors by year’s end.

That means more American workers will live in $15 states than in states stuck at $7.25.

Twenty States Stay at $7.25

Twenty states have no minimum wage above the federal rate.

Most are in the South: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

Others include Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Workers in these states earn the same minimum they did in 2009.

A full-time minimum wage job in Texas pays about $15,080 a year before taxes, well below the poverty line for a family of two.

Missouri Voters Win Then Lose

In November 2024, Missouri voters approved Proposition A with 58% support.

The measure raised the minimum wage to $15 by 2026, tied future increases to inflation, and guaranteed paid sick leave.

Seven months later, Republican lawmakers repealed the sick leave provision and killed the inflation adjustments. Governor Mike Kehoe signed the rollback in July 2025.

The $15 wage still takes effect January 1, 2026, but it won’t rise after that. Workers who started earning sick leave on May 1 lost it on August 28.

Flagstaff Eliminates Tip Credit

Flagstaff, Arizona becomes the first city to fully eliminate its separate minimum wage for tipped workers.

Starting January 1, 2026, all employees must earn $18.35 per hour regardless of whether they receive tips.

Voters approved the decade-long phase-out back in 2016. The city gradually closed the gap between tipped and regular workers by 50 cents each year.

Hospitality workers make up 15% of Flagstaff’s workforce, and the cost of living there runs about 22% above the national average.

California Fast Food Stays at $20

California’s 500,000 fast food workers continue earning $20 per hour under a 2024 law that created a first-of-its-kind industry wage board.

The Fast Food Council can raise that rate up to 3.5% annually but hasn’t yet scheduled an increase for 2026.

Meanwhile, the state’s general minimum wage rises to $16.90 on January 1. West Hollywood tops all California cities at $20.25.

Los Angeles hotel and airport workers recently secured a deal to reach $30 per hour by the 2028 Olympics.

Oklahoma Waits Until June 2026

Oklahoma workers have been stuck at $7. 25 since 2009, but they’ll finally get to vote on a $15 minimum wage in June 2026.

Supporters gathered nearly 180,000 signatures in just 90 days to put State Question 832 on the ballot. Governor Kevin Stitt then pushed the vote back two years, bypassing a dozen possible election dates.

If approved, the wage would rise to $12 in 2027, then climb to $15 by 2029 with inflation adjustments starting in 2030.

Business groups oppose the measure.

The $15 Tipping Point

For the first time in American history, more workers will live in states with a $15-plus minimum wage than in states stuck at the federal floor.

The Economic Policy Institute estimates over 8.3 million workers will benefit from the January 1 increases alone, adding $5 billion to their collective earnings.

Research increasingly shows that higher wages improve not just bank accounts but also health outcomes and educational achievement. States that raised wages saw faster growth in low-wage earnings than those that didn’t.

Two Countries in One Economy

The minimum wage map now shows two Americas.

In one, workers see annual raises tied to inflation and local cost of living. In the other, pay hasn’t moved in 16 years while rent, groceries, and gas kept climbing.

A cashier in Seattle earns nearly three times what a cashier in Mississippi makes for the same work. The federal government has shown no sign of acting.

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to raise the national minimum to $17 by 2030, but it hasn’t advanced. Until Congress moves, where you live determines what your labor is worth.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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