Is the Missouri minimum higher or lower than in other Midwest States? The answer is yes. While several Midwest states have higher minimum wages than the Show Me state, others have minimum wages that are lower.
The Missouri minimum wage is $6.50 per hour. Wisconsin’s minimum wage is also $6.50 per hour. On one hand, you have Midwestern states with fairly high minimum wages such as Michigan at $6.95 per hour. Ohio’s minimum wage is $6.85 per hour. The minimum wage in Illinois is currently $6.50, but it’s scheduled to increase to $7.50 later this year.
On the other hand, several nearby states have really low minimum wages. In the neighboring state of Kansas, the minimum wage is just $2.65 per hour, while the minimum wage in Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma is just $5.15 per hour.
If minimum wages were graded on a curve, Missouri, Wisconsin and Illinois would all receive a grade of 64%. Unlike Missouri, several states exempt many workers from the state minimum wage. There are so many exclusions to the Maryland minimum wage that it’s a wonder anyone in the state is paid $6.15 per hour. While many states have some exceptions to the minimum wage law, Maryland’s are by far the most extensive.
The Rhode Island minimum wage is $7.40 per hour. In both California and Massachusetts, workers currently command a minimum of $7.50 each. A number of states have minimum wages that are much higher than the federal minimum wage. Eleven states plus the District of Columbia all have minimum wages that are $7.00 per hour or more. In Alaska, New Jersey, and New York the minimum wage is $7.15 per hour. In Hawaii, it’s $7.25 per hour. The Vermont minimum wage is $7.53 per hour. The three highest minimum wages in the nation are Connecticut at $7.65, Oregon at $7.80 and Washington, with a minimum wage of $7.93 per hour.
