The new year brings new minimum wage laws in 19 states, according to a recent report tracking pay rates. Of the states making pay adjustments, Washington state has the highest new floor for wages at $17.13/hour, followed closely by Connecticut and California.

Jay Gormley, chief investment officer and COO, Advisory, Zimmet Healthcare Services Group, in an analysis of the state actions, said the federal minimum wage continues to be $7.25/hour, and 20 states continue to have no statewide level above that.

“Prior to the pandemic, the minimum wage was a bigger deal in SNFs, but overall labor and staffing shortages have driven much of this impact downstream,” he said. “There are regional levels within states but much like between states these levels don’t necessarily follow the differences in labor costs [especially as measured in Hospitals by Average Wage Index].”

For example, he said in a fictional world where New York City-based Major League Hockey team the NY Admirals would have to pay their ushers and arena vendors $17/hour as opposed to the $16/hour those kinds of workers get in the rest of the state. Their rivals over at the Boston Raiders, however, would continue to pay $15/hour, same as the overall rate in Massachusetts.

“The difference between Boston and rural Mass is 12 percent, but they would both have to pay the same minimum wage,” Gormley said. “The point here is that while not as impactful as it once was, minimum wages continue to show discrepancies across markets that are not reflected in geographically adjusted rates.”

The new hourly wages in the 19 states are:

• Arizona – $15.15

• California – $16.90

• Colorado – $15.16

• Connecticut – $16.94

• Hawaii – $16.00

• Maine – $15.10

• Michigan – $13.73

• Minnesota – $11.41

• Missouri – $15.00

• Montana – $10.85

• Nebraska – $15.00

• New Jersey – $15.92

• New York – $16.00

• Ohio – $11.00

• Rhode Island – $16.00

• South Dakota – $11.85

• Vermont – $14.42

• Virginia – $12.77

• Washington – $17.13

Read the full report on minimum wage changes at https://tinyurl.com/ywf9rbz5/.

Questions or comments? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.