Last week, the long push to increase Minnesota’s minimum wage to $9.50 per hour came to a successful conclusion with the signing of House File 2091 into law. The Economic Policy Institute has estimated that this increase would boost wages for 357,000 workers and increase purchasing power in the state by $472 million.
The map [LINKED] below shows the estimated distribution of the number of workers benefiting and the economic impact by House district. This is an update of information originally published by Minnesota 2020 last December. The new information displayed in the map is based on updated American Community Survey (ACS) data and corrects problems with the legislative district designations in the older ACS data.
Click on the map to view district numbers. Use + and - to zoom.View map in a new window.
Estimated Economic Impact of Minimum Wage Increase by House District:
For a printout showing the number of workers effected and the economic impact of the new minimum wage for each Minnesota House district, click here. For a printout showing the same information by Senate district, click here.
The new law will help low wage Minnesotans catch up with a minimum wage increase to $9.50 per hour and keep up by indexing that wage so that it grows along with the cost of living. The same wage hike will help stimulate Minnesota’s economy by putting purchasing power in the hands of low wage workers, who tend to spend a large share of each dollar of disposable income. A lot more needs to be done to advance economic justice in Minnesota, but the minimum wage increase was a big step in the right direction.