WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Starting Saturday, Florida workers earning the minimum wage received a raise of $1 per hour to $12.
On Nov. 3 2020, voters approved a constitutional amendment, which raised the minimum to $10 per hour, effective Sept. 30, 2021, then an additional $1 per hour each year for five years, until September 30, 2026, when it would become $15 per hour. After that, minimum wage increases would be tied to annual inflation adjustment.
The required cash wage for tipped employees increasesd to $8.98.
For 40-hour employees, the increase amounts to $40 per week and $2,018 yearly.
The total minimum salary is $24,960.
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour hasn't changed since 2009 when it was $6.55. Twenty states still using this rateare Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
States more than Florida are Arizona ($13.85), California ($15.50), Colorado ($13.65), Connecticut ($15), Illinois ($13), Maine ($13.80), Maryland ($13.25), Massachusetts ($15), New Jersey ($14.13), New York ($14.20), Oregon ($14.20), Rhode Island ($13), Vermont ($13.18), Washington ($15.74). Also the District of Columbia is the highest in the nation at $17.
The living wage in Florida for a single childless person is $17.72 per hour, approximately $36,857.60 per year, according to MIT’s living wage calculator. A child increases the cost of living to a staggering $74,838, which is $13,000 more than Florida’s median household income in 2021.
