Here's some good news to start the year: Eighteen U.S. states kicked off 2018 by raising the minimum wage for nearly 4.5 million Americans. Ranging from a 4 cent boost in Alaska to a $1 increase in Maine, it marks a small but significant victory for employees and their families, and a welcome bit of extra green following the holiday season.
The federal minimum has not increased since 2009, remaining steady at $7.25 an hour, which labor activists from groups like Fight for $15 to Senator Bernie Sanders have called "starvation pay," proposing instead, among other things, a nationally mandated $15 an hour wage. According to the Economic Policy Institute, once you account for inflation and cost of living, a sustainable living wage should be even higher, at $19 an hour.
In addition to the 18 states, 20 cities, including Washington D.C. and New York, also moved to increases wages for their residents. New York's minimum wage increased to $12 for small businesses and $13 for businesses with 11 or more employees.
See which states increased their minimum wage (and by how much) below.
Alaska
New Minimum Wage: $9.84 ($.04 increase)
Arizona
New Minimum Wage: $10.50 ($.50 increase)
California
New Minimum Wage: $11.00 ($.50 increase)
Colorado
New Minimum Wage: $10.20 ($.90 increase)
Florida
New Minimum Wage: $8.25 ($.15 increase)
Hawaii
New Minimum Wage: $10.10 ($.85 increase)
Maine
New Minimum Wage: $10 ($1.00 increase)
Michigan
New Minimum Wage: $9.25 ($.35 increase)
Minnesota
New Minimum Wage: $9.65 ($.15 increase)
Missouri
New Minimum Wage: $7.85 ($.15 increase)
Montana
New Minimum Wage: $8.30 ($.15 increase)
New Jersey
New Minimum Wage: $8.60 ($.16 increase)
New York
New Minimum Wage: $10.40 ($.70 increase)
Ohio
New Minimum Wage: $8.30 ($.15 increase)
Rhode Island
New Minimum Wage: $10.10 ($.50 increase)
South Dakota
New Minimum Wage: $8.85 ($.20 increase)
Vermont
New Minimum Wage: $10.50 ($.50 increase)
Washington
New Minimum Wage: $11.50 ($.50 increase)