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Michigan Minimum Wage News

January 23rd, 2007 Posted by Amelia

The Michigan minimum wage increased on October 1, 2006 and it’s scheduled to go up again this year. Under Michigan Senate bill 318, the state minimum wage increased from %5.15 per hour to the current rate of $6.95 per hour.

For the first time, with that increase the Michigan minimum wage is now higher than the federal base rate of $5.15 per hour. But, how does the Michigan minimum wage compare to other states? If we were grading state minimum wages on a curve, Michigan would receive a grade of 78%. The state of Washington, with a minimum wage of $7.93 per hour, would receive a grade of 100%. Oregon, with a minimum wage of $7.80 would receive a grade of 98%. The five states with no state minimum wage (Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi) would be clustered in the bottom 10%.

The Michigan minimum wage is slated to increase again later this year. On July 1, 2007 the state minimum wage will go up to $7.15 per hour. One year later, on July 1 2008, the rate will increase again to $7.40 per hour.

While the Michigan minimum wage is not the highest in the nation, it’s far from the lowest. That dubious honor belongs to the state of Kansas, with a state minimum wage of $2.65 per hour. (I know what you’re thinking: Why do they bother, right?)

Republican legislators in Michigan were worried that minimum-wage ballot measures would drive more Democratic voters to the polls. So, they joined Democrats in raising the rate through legislative action, before the mid-term elections.

Fifteen U.S. states have state minimum wages of just $5.15 per hour, the same as the federal rate. These include Idaho Utah, Wyoming, Virginia Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Georgia, Oklahoma, Iowa, Indianan, Kentucky, New Hampshire and New Mexico.