The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since July 2009 — sixteen years and counting, the longest freeze since the wage was created. The state map tells the real story:
The landscape (2025–2026)
| Level | Details |
|---|---|
| Federal minimum | $7.25/hour (unchanged since 2009) |
| High-floor states (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT, MA...) | $15–17+, several indexed to inflation |
| City-level maximums | Seattle, SF, LA metro at or above ~$17–19 |
| States using the federal floor | Roughly 20 states hold at or near $7.25 |
| Tipped minimum (federal) | $2.13/hour — unchanged since 1991 |
What the data shows
- Real-value erosion: $7.25 in 2009 dollars equals roughly $10.70+ today — the federal floor’s purchasing power has fallen roughly a third since its last raise, its lowest real value since the 1950s.
- States did the work: with the federal floor frozen, state action set the effective map — a majority of US workers now live in states above $12, a share that climbed steadily through the 2020s.
- The employment-effects debate continues: the research literature has genuinely shifted — meta-analyses find small average employment effects at moderate minimums, with the strongest consensus around modest raises and more uncertainty at high ones. Cite recent work, not 1980s textbooks.
Primary sources: the Department of Labor’s minimum wage tables, the Economic Policy Institute’s tracker, and the BLS’s workers-at-minimum-wage reports. State minimums change every January 1 — check the current table before citing.