Minimum wage is going up in 20 states on Jan. 1

Worker receives paycheck.
(Image credit: iStock/AndreyPopov)

Workers in 20 states will ring in the new year with higher wages.

Minimum wage will increase in 20 states on Jan. 1, with a boost of five cents an hour in Alaska all the way up to $1.50 per hour in New York City. In November, voters in Missouri and Arkansas passed ballot measures to increase minimum wage in their state, while increases in 18 other states are due to legislation already passed or inflation adjustments, MoneyWatch reports. At least five million Americans will see a raise, the Economic Policy Institute said.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.