Millions of American workers will see pay raises in the new year due to minimum-wage increases in 20 states and 21 cities.
The federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009, but in the years since, 29 states and the District of Columbia have established minimum wages above the federal level.
The wage hikes range from an extra nickel per hour in Alaska to $1-an-hour in Maine, Massachusetts and California for companies with more than 25 employees. The increases will raise pay for 5.3 million workers across the country, according to the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute, giving those workers an estimated $5.4 billion in increased wages over the course of 2019.
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