On New Year’s Day, 2026, 19 states raised the minimum wage. From “red states” like Montana and Ohio — which gave President Trump large margins of victory — to “blue states” like Washington and Rhode Island — which gave Democratic candidate Vice President Harris similar margins of victory — millions received pay increases through higher minimum wages.
Pennsylvania did not raise the minimum wage. And has not in the last 17 years. Since 2009, the minimum wage in Pennsylvania has been $7.25 an hour, and even lower for “tipped workers.” For tipped workers, the minimum wage remains $2.83 an hour. Today’s prices are 1.51 times the average since 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index. A dollar today only buys 66.225% of what it could buy back then.
The Trump Administration shows that for the minimum wage to keep up with inflation, it would have to be above $10.50 an hour. By keeping it at $ 7.25, Pennsylvania and the Federal Government are impoverishing minimum wage workers. When President Trump ran for election, he promised tax relief for some tipped workers, but he did not promise to raise the minimum wage to keep up with the inflation he blamed on President Biden.
Today, 30 states have a minimum wage over the federal level. Every state surrounding PA has increased its minimum wage. New Jersey is $15.92, Delaware $15.00, Maryland $15.00, New York $17.00, Ohio $11.00, and even West Virginia $8.75.
One of the major “think tanks” that suggests raising the minimum wage will hurt low-income workers is the Cato Institute, which the late Koch Brothers co-founded. The Cato Institute posts: “Some policymakers are proposing to raise the minimum wage, but that policy would be harmful. Research shows businesses would respond to the increased costs by reducing employment, particularly for low-skilled workers. Some businesses may pass the higher costs on to consumers. Despite the hope of proponents, the minimum wage does little, if anything, to decrease poverty.”
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The underlying statement includes the phrase, “would be harmful,” making it clear that the statement is not based on facts but on projections. None of the predictions has proven true.
In fact, raising the minimum wage has not led to net job losses, has not impoverished low-wage workers, or harmed all businesses.
There is no correlation between states with growing economies and increases in the minimum wage. Of the top 5 states, judged by CNBC, 3, Florida, Delaware, and New York have minimum wages above the federal levels.
In the states where personal income has grown the most in the last year, raising the minimum wage has not hurt workers. The five states with the largest growth were Massachusetts, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Arizona. Only Kansas has kept its minimum wage at $7.25. Of the five states with the lowest growth in personal income, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Iowa, and New Hampshire, 4 have kept the minimum wage at $7.25.
The web page Wallet Hub, which ranks the best states for finding a job, has a top 4 of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Vermont — all of which have increased the minimum wage. The 5th state on the list, New Hampshire, is the only one of the top 5 that has not.
Stephen Herzenberg, Executive Director at Keystone Research Center says “today’s $7.25 per hour minimum wage in Pennsylvania is simply not enough to ensure that workers can provide for themselves and their families. Raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, as Governor Shapiro proposed once again in his budget address… would not only improve the lives of millions of workers but also lead to a stronger and more equitable economy.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer projects that 400,000 people in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties would see their incomes increase if the state raised the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour.
Over 30 years ago, elected officials in PA decided to give themselves an annual, automatic pay increase. At the same time, they refused to guarantee increases for minimum-wage workers.
So why hasn’t the minimum wage been increased in PA? It turns out that the Republican leadership in the State Legislature has refused to allow a vote on increasing the minimum wage. This is even though a majority of the counties that voted for Republicans have higher poverty rates than the counties that voted for Democrats. And 82% of Pennsylvanians support increasing it.
Governor Shapiro, who continues to call for an increase, much like the call for predictable funding for SEPTA, has been unable to secure agreement from the State Legislature. It would be conjecture to give reasons for his failures. But there is little doubt that many people look at how quickly I-95 was fixed and wonder why the Governor can’t find a way to fix the crisis of the working poor as well?
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