Montana Increases Minimum Wage To $8.75
The Montana Department of Labor and Industry reminds Montanans that workers earning minimum wage should now be getting paid $8.75 per hour. The rate increase became effective on Friday, Jan. 1.
An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Montana workers, or 2 percent of the workforce, received hourly wages less than $8.75 per hour in 2020 and are likely to receive higher wages due to the 2021 minimum wage increase. In 2019, the industry with the largest number of workers earning minimum wage was the accommodations and food services industry. Many minimum-wage workers are front-line workers who are at the greatest risk of COVID-19 exposure.
The minimum wage is determined by taking the current minimum wage of $8.65 and increasing it by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers increase from August of 2019 to August 2020. The CPI-U increased by 1.31 percent (unadjusted) over the year ending August 2020. To keep the minimum wage at the same purchasing power as the prior year, the wage should increase by $0.11 per hour. However, since state statute requires the wage to rounded to the nearest 5 cents, the 2021 minimum wage rate will be $8.75.
In 2006 as a private citizen, Gov. Steve Bullock led ballot initiative I-156 to raise the minimum wage and require that it be adjusted annually for inflation. Approved by Montana voters, Montana Code Annotated 39-3-409 requires the Montana Department of Labor & Industry to adjust the Montana minimum wage for inflation using the CPI-U.
For more information on minimum wage in Montana, visit http://erd.dli. mt.gov/Portals/54/Documents/ Labor-Standards/ MINIMUM%20WAGE%20 POSTER%20(1-2021).pdf? ver=2020-10-14-152338-637.
Montana was one of 20 states that increased its minimum wage at the start of 2021. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour hasn’t changed since 2009. A total of 20 states will continue to have a minimum wage either equal to or below the federal level.
Other states that increased their minimum wage on Jan. 1, 2021, included Alaska to $10.34, Arizona to $12.15, Arkansas to $11, California to $14, Colorado to $12.32, Florida to $8.65, Illinois to $11, Maine to $12.15, Maryland to $11.75, Massachusetts to $13.50, Minnesota to $10.08, Missouri to $10.30, New Jersey to $12, New Mexico to $10.50, New York to $12.50, Ohio to $8.80, South Dakota to $9.45, Vermont to $11.75 and Washington to $13.69.
The largest increase was $1.50 in New Mexico. States increasing their minimum wage by $1 were Arkansas, California, Illinois and New Jersey.
