This New Year brought with it a pay increase for minimum wage workers in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Some of the changes came from laws passed in 2022, while others were the result of inflationary adjustments included in laws passed in previous years.

Nebraska introduced the biggest change with a $1.50 per hour increase, and Michigan saw the smallest change with an increase of just $0.23 per hour. Washington state and D.C.'s changes make them the highest paying states for minimum wage workers.

In Washington state, a $1.25 increase brought minimum wage up to $15.74 per hour. Washington employers will also now be required to include salary and benefits information in job postings rather than withholding that information until a job offer is made.

Under D.C.'s two-tiered system, minimum wage was already $16.10 for non-tipped workers, but that system will be phased out over the next few years to bring the minimum wage up to the same rate for all workers. All but eight states currently operate on a two-tiered minimum wage system.

Several individual cities also introduced wage increases this New Year. In Columbus, Ohio, the city council raised the minimum wage to $20 per hour for workers at businesses that receive incentives from the city.

As of this year, all but one New England state will have a minimum wage of at least $13 per hour. The exception is New Hampshire, which is one of twenty states that use the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

The federal minimum wage hasn't been changed in 13 years, the longest stagnant period since the wage was introduced in 1956.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, states with laws in place to increase the minimum wage following an increase in the cost of living saw the largest wage bumps, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington state.