Minimum Wages General (2024)

FAQs

Minimum Wages General? ›

The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour. Many states also have minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.

The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour. Many states also have minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.

Which States Have a $15 per Hour Minimum Wage? California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington are the states with a minimum wage of $15 per hour or above. While not a state, Washington, D.C. also falls into this category with its minimum wage of $17 per hour.

The federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Many states also have minimum wage laws. Some state laws provide greater employee protections; employers must comply with both.

The federal minimum wages in USA is $7.25 (~₹599) per hour. However, the basic salary in the United States varies from state to state. Washington has the highest minimum wage in USA, which is $15.74 (~₹1,301), followed by California with $15.50 (~₹1,281) per hour.

“Most of us can't do the math in our heads. If we could, we'd realize that $15 an hour amounts to only $31,200 a year, assuming full-time work—about half of the U.S. median income and a painfully small amount for living and raising children in most American cities.” It can be painfully small outside of cities, too.

Five states have not adopted a state minimum wage: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Two states, Georgia and Wyoming, have a minimum wage below $7.25 per hour. In all seven of these states, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies.

On April 1, “fast” will come at a higher price. A new law in California will raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour and employers say having to pay their workers more will trickle down to the customer.

Luxembourg. Luxembourg offers the highest minimum wage of any country worldwide at US$3,357 (€3,085) per month for skilled talent over the age of 18. Unskilled talent and talent under the age of 18 receive a lower monthly minimum wage: Unskilled workers 18 years of age and older: US$2,798 (€2,571)

In 2022, 1.02 million hourly workers —1.3% of all hourly workers — earned at or below the federal minimum wage. That's the lowest number since data collection began in 1979.

What is the average salary in the US? ›

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average U.S. annual salary in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384. This is up 5.4% from the same time period in 2022 when the average American was making $56,316 per year. Average weekly earnings reached $1,142, while the average American made $4,949 per month in Q4 of 2023.

$7.25 hourly is how much per year? If you make $7.25 per hour, your Yearly salary would be $15,080. This result is obtained by multiplying your base salary by the amount of hours, week, and months you work in a year, assuming you work 40 hours a week.

Hawaii tops the list of states and what's needed to earn a living wage. It's the only state where a single person needs to make six figures to get by, pay for necessities and a few nice-to-have purchases, and stash money into savings, too.

Raising the minimum wage

California became the first state to commit to a $15 an hour minimum wage when then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that ratcheted up the pay floor from $10.50 in 2017. The law included an inflation adjustment, which brought the California minimum wage to $16 an hour in 2024.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.