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- Nevada and Oregon, along with Washington DC, are set to raise their minimum wages today.
- Those raises will directly benefit over 200,000 workers, most of whom are women.
- In 2021, a record number of states and jurisdictions are raising their minimum wages.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Today, two states and Washington, DC are scheduled to increase their minimum wages. Those hikes all come from scheduled incremental increases, a tactic used to increase wages without causing too much economic strain.
Over 200,000 workers will see their paychecks grow, according to an estimate by Ben Zipperer of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Of the workers who will benefit, most are women, according to Zipperer; Black and Hispanic workers will see the largest hikes.
All of the raises bring the states and city well above the federal minimum of $7.25, which hasn't changed since 2009.
How much minimum wage workers will earn now
Nevada's wage went up by $0.75, coming in at $9.75 for employees who don't receive health benefits. That group will see the minimum wage grow to $12 by 2024.
In Oregon, the minimum wage also grew by $0.75 to $12.75 an hour – and, in the Portland metro area, it's now $14. The statewide wage is scheduled to go up to $13.50 by 2022.
In DC, the wage rose by $0.20 to $15.20, a scheduled increase tied to inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
The states and city join a long list of regions raising their wages in 2021. A record-breaking number of jurisdictions are raising wages this year, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP). Twenty states kicked off 2021 by raising their wages. According to the report, 40 counties and cities will have raised their minimum wages to at least $15 by the end of 2021.
Workers who earn above the minimum wage will likely also benefit from hikes, according to Zipperer. They'll feel "ripple" effects as their employers adjust pay internally, and could see their own wages increase.
There's a similar effect when big companies raise their wages. As Insider previously reported, businesses like Amazon hiking wages has a "spillover effect" on local businesses - lifting wages for those workers, too.
A handful of states will raise their wages in the coming months. Connecticut is up next, with its wage increasing from $12 to $13 on August 1. And, come September, Florida's minimum wage will rise for the second time this year, increasing to $10 an hour.
Florida's September hike is part of a gradual increase to $15 an hour; Florida is notably one of only a few Republican-run states to vote a $15 minimum wage into law.
At the federal level, the Senate failed to pass a measure increasing the minimum wage across the country earlier this year. A federal hike to $15 was struck from reconciliation, with eight Democrats ultimately voting against it. Progress on hiking the federal rate continues to be stalled.