This year, 19 states and DC have raised their minimum wage, benefiting 17 million of the poorest-paid American workers. The federal minimum wage was set at $7.25 an hour in 2009 and has remained unchanged, but 29 states and DC have since set wage floors that surpass the national baseline, marching ever closer to the magic figure of $15 an hour, although five states have still not adopted a bare minimum. With this in mind, we count down from the highest to the lowest minimum wage in the US.

Workers in DC, where the cost of living is super-high, will earn a minimum of $14 an hour from July 1 (up from $13.25), courtesy of the Fair Shot Minimum Wage Amendment Act of 2016, giving the federal district one of the highest minimum wages in the nation. The wage floor will increase to the gold standard figure of $15 on July 1 2020, thereafter it will rise annually in line with inflation.

A pricey place to live, Massachusetts is the fourth-most expensive state. Luckily, the Bay State is committed to raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2023. For 2019, the figure has been set at $12 an hour by the state legislature, up from $11, and Massachusetts is one of 12 states that has increased the wage floor for tipped workers, who now earn at least $4.35 an hour.

Washington's minimum wage has risen from $11.50 to $12 an hour this year, and will increase to $13.50 in 2020, thanks to a ballot measure, Initiative 1433, which was approved by 60% of voters. Locally, the municipality of SeaTac outside Seattle now has the nation's highest minimum wage, which has been set at $16.09 an hour, while the wage floor in costly Seattle has increased from $15 to $16.

In 2016, California's then-Governor Jerry Brown signed the state's $15 an hour minimum wage law, which will take effect by 2021. This year, the rate has been set at $11 for small businesses, rising to $12 for companies who employ more than 26 staff, up from $11, though a slew of Californian municipalities now have minimum wages that exceed $15, including Emeryville, which at $15.69 has the highest minimum wage in the state.

Oregon is a relatively expensive place to live, nevertheless its minimum wage, which is currently set at $10.75 an hour, is poised to rise to $11.25 on July 1. Workers in the Portland Metro Area will do even better. Their minimum wage will hit $12.50 an hour, though the cost of living in the city, particularly in terms of housing, is high.

Colorado is one of six states that is hiking up its minimum wage as a result of a ballot initiative. The voter-approved Amendment 70 has raised the wage floor to $11.10 this year, up from $10.20 in 2018, and the minimum wage will rise to $12 next year. Minimum wage tipped workers have also been treated to a raise, and Denver is mulling over a $15 an hour minimum wage for city workers.

As is the case in neighboring Massachusetts, the state legislature in New York has increased the minimum wage, which has risen from $10.40 to $11.10 an hour this year. In notoriously expensive New York City, the minimum wage has increased from $13 to $15 an hour for businesses that have more than 10 employees, with an impressive 1.5 million low-wage workers benefiting from the raise.

The approval of the Prop 206 ballot initiative in 2016 has done wonders for the minimum wage in Arizona, which has risen from $10.50 to $11 an hour this year, and will go up by a dollar to hit $12 in 2020. Low-wage tipped workers are also getting a meaningful raise, while the wage floor in the city of Flagstaff has increased from $11 to $12 an hour.

Likewise, voters in Maine, the state with America's 13th highest cost of living, are behind the increase of the state's minimum wage. The passing of Question 4, which was approved in August 2017, has translated to a minimum wage of $11 an hour for 2019, up from $10 last year, and will culminate in a wage floor of $12 by 2020. Tipped workers in the state have also seen an increase in their minimum wage.

Vermont's minimum wage increases annually on January 1 by either 5% or the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is smaller. This means that for 2019, the wage floor in the state, where the cost of living is more or less on a par with Maine's, has swelled to $10.78 an hour, up from $10.50, while the baseline for tipped workers have been increased to $5.39 per hour.

L'il Rhody may be the smallest state, but its cost of living is among the heftiest in the US, with everything from housing to groceries on the expensive side. No wonder the state legislature has voted in a hike in the minimum wage. For 2019, the powers that be have approved a wage floor of $10.50, a raise of 60 cents compared to 2018.

Despite a number of proposals to increase Connecticut's minimum wage to $15 an hour, the state's wage floor, which was once described as “unjust” given the high cost of living there, is still far off that figure. While the baseline is higher now than it was in 2016, when the minimum wage was $9.50 an hour, it remains unchanged this year from the $10.10 figure set in 2017.

Hawaii has the highest cost of living in the US, which makes the Aloha State an especially challenging place for low-wage workers to make ends meet. Unfortunately, the poorest-paid employees in the popular vacation destination won't be getting any extra financial help this year as the minimum wage remains unchanged from 2018 at $10.10 an hour.

Wages for the poorest-paid workers go further in Maryland, though the state is more expensive than most. Like Hawaii however, Maryland's minimum wage workers haven't been treated to a raise this year – the rate of $10.10 per hour that was set in 2018 is still in place. Incredibly, federal law allows employers to pay workers with disabilities below the minimum wage. Maryland, Alaska and New Hampshire are the only states that have banned this practise.

People in Alaska pay though the nose for housing, groceries, utilities and more, so the state's minimum wage of $9.89 an hour isn't all that awesome. The wage floor, which is linked to state-level inflation and must always be a dollar greater than the federal minimum wage according to Alaskan law, has risen this year, but only by five cents, making it the most modest raise across the US states.

Minnesota raised the minimum wage significantly in 2014. Since then, the wage floor has been indexed to inflation, which can only be a good thing for those of modest means in a state where healthcare is pricey, though housing is around 11% less expensive than the national average. For 2019, the rate is $8.04 an hour for small businesses and $9.86 for larger employers, up from $7.87 an hour and $8.04 respectively.

Minimum wage workers in Arkansas have fewer financial pressures than their counterparts in other states – Arkansas has the some of the most budget-friendly living costs in the country. As outlined by a ballot initiative that was approved by 68% of voters in November, the state's minimum wage increased to $9.25 an hour on January 1 and will rise to $11 by 2021, up from $8.50 in 2018.

Citizen-initiated laws to raise Michigan's minimum wage to $10 an hour this April and $12 an hour by 2022 were watered down in December by the state's GOP-controlled legislature. Under Senate Bill 1171, Michigan's minimum wage will rise to $9.45 on April 1 from $9.25 now, but won't increase to $12 an hour now until 2030. Fortunately, the cost of living in the state isn't especially high.

In accordance with the law in the state, the minimum wage in South Dakota rises annually in line with increases in the cost of living as measured by the Consumer Price Index. That means that this year, the wage floor rose to $9.10 an hour on January 1, up from $8.65 in 2018. Minimum wage tipped workers also saw their pay increase.

Nebraska raised its minimum wage in 2016 from the federal baseline of $7.25 to $9 an hour. Since then, the wage floor figure has stayed the same. Be that as it may, the state, which has a lower cost of living than the national average with notably cheap utilities, still beats 31 states when it comes to the minimum wage.

Low-paid workers in costly New Jersey are no doubt keeping their fingers crossed that a bill introduced in January by Governor Phil Murphy and legislative leaders to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024 gets the green light. Right now the wage floor is $8.85, up from $8.60 in 2018 – the recent raise is linked to the increase in living expenses in the state.

The Delaware state legislature is set to boost the state's minimum wage to $10.25 an hour by 2020, a much-needed increase in a state where living costs are on the expensive side. Currently standing at $8.75 an hour, the minimum wage is scheduled to rise to $9.25 this year, but workers will have to wait until October 1 for the raise to come into effect.

The WV Minimum Wage law, which was signed by West Virginia's then-Governor Earl Tomblin in 2014 and came into effect on January 1 2015, hiked up the state's pay floor from the federal minimum of $7.25 to $8.75. Since then, however, the figure has remained stagnant, and isn't likely to rise in the foreseeable future. At least the overall cost of living in the state isn't excessive.

More than 600,000 minimum wage workers in Missouri are set to earn at least $12 an hour by 2023 after voters in the state voted in favor of Prop B in November's elections. This year, the wage floor has risen to $8.60, up from $7.85 in 2018, and minimum wage tipped workers in the state, which has the sixth-cheapest cost of living in the country, have also been given a raise.

Like a number of other states, Ohio's minimum wage is linked to inflation and rises in tandem with the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index. This year, the wage floor has increased to $8.55 an hour, up from $8.30 in 2018, for larger employers and $7.25 for smaller ones. Ohio is also one of the states that has raised the minimum wage for tipped workers.

Montana's minimum wage increases in line with rises in the Consumer Price Index too. On January 1, the rate in the Treasure State rose from $8.30 to $8.50 an hour, an increase of 20 cents. While housing costs in the state are almost 23% lower than the nationwide average, other cost of living indicators are rather high.

Another state that increases the minimum wage annually based on indexing, Florida hiked up its pay floor at the beginning of this year to $8.46 an hour (the 2018 figure was $8.25), and minimum wage tipped workers also got a raise. In contrast to Montana, housing in the Sunshine State can be expensive, yet grocery prices tend to be low, and utilities bills are reasonably affordable.

When Illinois' minimum wage increased to $8.25 in 2010 as a consequence of legislation passed in 2006, the Prairie State boasted America's third-highest wage floor. But since then, the figure has remained unchanged and Illinois has slipped down the rankings. Mercifully for the state's lowest-paid workers, groceries and utilities in Illinois are cheaper than the nationwide average.

Differing from other states in its approach to the minimum wage, Nevada, which has a cost of living that is 5% higher than the nationwide average, sets a rate of $7.25 an hour for workers who are offered health insurance from their employer, and $8.25 for those who aren't covered by the company they work for.

Minimum wage workers in New Mexico, where the cost of living is 5% lower than the nationwide average, earn 25 cents more an hour than the figure mandated by the federal government, but the wage floor remains unchanged from last year. The municipality of Las Cruces, however, has raised its minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, up from $9.20 in 2018.

Idaho has a state minimum wage, but it simply mimics the $7.25 per hour wage floor mandated by the federal government. The rate was set in 2008 when it was raised from $6.55 an hour. Nevertheless, living costs in Idaho are almost 8% lower than the nationwide average, although transport costs are pricier.

Ditto Indiana, which is among the top 10 cheapest places to live in the nation. The Hoosier State has a minimum wage, however the figure of $7.25 an hour reflects the federal wage floor. Interestingly, a bill is currently being considered in the Indiana Senate that proposes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by June 2023.

Minimum wage workers in Iowa may pay 20% less than the national average for housing, and the cost of living may be 9% cheaper compared to to the nationwide average, but the lowest-paid employees in the state earn just $7.25 an hour, the same as the wage floor mandated by the federal government.

As in the case in a number of other states, Kansas has a minimum wage but the rate is exactly the same as the federal figure of $7.25 per hour. Thankfully, the state is the seventh-cheapest in the country in terms of living costs, with housing a good 24% more affordable than the national average.

Kentucky, which is only the 16th cheapest place to live in the nation, has a higher percentage of minimum wage workers than any other state. Workers earning the bare minimum of $7.25 an hour as set out by Kentucky law make up 4.6% of the workforce. This contrasts starkly with California, where minimum wage workers comprise just 0.75% of the working population.

Life is especially tough for minimum wage workers in New Hampshire, who no doubt struggle to pay their bills. The official minimum wage in the Granite State reflects the federal rate of $7.25 per hour, but the overall cost of living is 15% higher than than the national average, and utilities are a whopping 32% more pricey.

Minimum wage workers in North Carolina are also entitled to earn at least $7.25 an hour which, again, is the same as the rate mandated by the federal government, but the cost of living is markedly cheaper. However healthcare tends to be on the expensive side in the Southern state.

Healthcare costs are also high in North Dakota, around 13% greater than the nationwide average. Minimum wage workers in the state must be thankful that housing costs are low at 15% below the national average as they are only entitled to earn at least $7.25 an hour, the figure mandated by North Dakota's minimum wage legislation.

The cost of living in Oklahoma is remarkably low, and housing is around 25% less expensive than the national average, beating North Dakota in this respect. Like the Roughrider State, Oklahoma has a state-mandated minimum wage, but it simply reflects the wage floor of $7.25 an hour that is required by the federal government.

Minimum wage workers in Pennsylvania are only entitled to earn $7.25 an hour, according to the state's wage floor law, yet the cost of living is 2% higher than the nationwide average. Employees in Philadelphia, however, get at least $12.20 an hour, and the city's mayor recently signed the 21st Century Minimum Wage law, which will raise the wage floor to $13.25 per hour on July 1, and to $15 by 2022.

Everything is bigger in Texas, apart from the minimum wage, which is set at $7.25 an hour, echoing the federal wage floor. Still, the Lone Star State does have the cheapest gas prices in the country, and housing costs 15% less than the national average, while groceries are 10% more affordable.

The minimum wage in Utah, where the cost of living is 4% lower than the national average, also matches the $7.25 per hour wage floor mandated by the federal government. Utah House minority leader Brian King recently introduced a bill to hike the wage to a more livable $12 an hour by 2022, but the Democrat politician's proposal was unsuccessful.

The cost of living in the Old Dominion is slightly higher than the national average, but the state-mandated minimum wage is set at just $7.25 an hour. Democrat Senator Scott Marsden has been trying to raise the wage floor since 2014, but his efforts to increase the figure have been roundly rejected by local Republicans and business groups.

Wisconsin has resisted attempts to raise its minimum wage from $7.25 per hour, unlike neighboring Minnesota. The upside of this has been an increase in youth employment, which tends to be low-paid. While jobs for young people fell 9% in Minnesota after it hiked the wage floor, youth employment in Wisconsin increased by 10.6%.

Though most workers in Georgia, which is the ninth cheapest state in terms of cost of living, earn at least $7.25 per hour, a small section of the workforce, including some farm workers, health aides, seasonal workers and tipped employees, only get the state-mandated minimum wage, which is set at a shockingly low $5.15 an hour.

Like Georgia, Wyoming has the lowest minimum wage in the nation at just $5.15 per hour. Again, the vast majority of workers in the Equality State are covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and earn at least $7.25 an hour, but certain groups are exempt, such as agriculture and domestic service workers, and commission-only employees.

Alabama is one of five states that has no minimum wage, but most workers are covered by federal law. Birmingham did actually vote in 2016 to increase its wage floor to $10.10 an hour, but the hike was blocked by the state. As a consolation for the poorest-paid, housing in the Heart of Dixie is 27% less expensive than the national average, and the state is the eighth cheapest in the country overall.

Louisiana also has no minimum wage. The majority of workers in the Pelican State are covered by federal legislation, however, and earn no less than $7.25 per hour. Housing and other essentials are fortunately much cheaper than the nationwide average, making life for the poorest-salaried workers relatively less arduous.

The overall cost of living in Mississippi is the cheapest in the country at around 15% less than the nationwide average, and housing is more affordable than in any other state, which may explain the lack of state-mandated minimum wage, but most workers in Mississippi are entitled to earn at least $7.25 per hour as per federal law.

South Carolina lacks a minimum wage but, again, the lion's share of workers are covered by federal law, so they earn a minimum of $7.25 an hour. Fortunately, the overall cost of living in the Palmetto State is refreshingly affordable. Housing, groceries and other living costs are economical, with the exception of steep utility bills, which come in at 12% more expensive than the national average.

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Tennessee's low-wage workers, most of whom are covered by federal law, may want to consider working in the public sector in Shelby County or Memphis. While the state, which is generally an affordable place to live, has no mandated minimum wage, county and city workers in these two locations now earn at least $15 an hour.

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This political movement, which was born in 2012, is fighting for a minimum living wage of $15 an hour for all American workers. On a local level, three states (California, Massachusetts and New York), as well as a number of municipalities, have already pledged to set a minimum wage of at least $15 per hour.

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On a nationwide level, Democrats in the House of Representatives introduced a bill on January 16 to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024. However the proposed Raise the Wage Act is likely to be voted down by Senate Republicans, many of whom believe it will harm businesses, increase unemployment and discourage entrepreneurs.

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