The federal minimum wage in the US has stayed at $7.25 per hour since it was raised back in 2009, despite soaring inflation and the growing cost of living. Many cities across America enforce their own minimum wages, but with the cost of living varying greatly across each, that pay goes further in some cities than others.
To find out where minimum wage gets you the most and least, SmartAsset ranked 79 of the largest US cities according to how much the minimum wage is worth after adjusting for the cost of living in each one.
Key Findings:
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Despite having the 22nd-highest cost of living overall, minimum wage goes furthest in Denver, where the hourly minimum pay was raised to $17.29 in January 2023. The Colorado capital's minumum wage is the second-highest of those studied.
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Minimum wage workers in Seattle earn $18.69 an hour, the highest minimum wage overall — but with Seattle among the most expensive cities to live in, the real minimum wage falls at just $12.51.
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Minimum wage in Honolulu pays for the least of all the cities analyzed. While minimum wage workers in the Hawaiian city earn $12 per hour, the cost of living sits 85.6 percent above the national average — meaning the hourly minimum wage is worth just a measly $6.47 after adjustment.
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Of the 79 cities studied, only 18 have a statutory minimum wage of $15 or more. Thirty of the cities enforce the default federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.
Via SmartAsset.
[Image credit: Kenny Eliason]