Illinois Announces Huge Minimum Wage Increase: Is Iowa Next?

While the minimum wage in Iowa continues to stay at the federal minimum, yet another surrounding state is taking steps to help citizens try to pull out of the grasp of poverty.

The minimum wage in Illinois is already $8.25, a dollar an hour more than in Iowa. However, legislation has passed that would raise it by a dollar next January, followed by 75 cents the following year, then a dollar a year for five consecutive years, ending on January 1, 2025. At that time, the minimum wage in the Land of Lincoln would be $15.00. The Illinois Senate passed the bill last week and the House followed suit on Valentines Day. After the announcement, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said,

Today is (a) resounding victory for the 1.4 million Illinoisans who will soon get a hard-earned and well-deserved raise. After nearly a decade of delay, I applaud the House and Senate for passing a living wage with the fierce urgency this moment requires. Phasing in the minimum wage over the next six years will put $6,300 a year into the pockets of nearly a quarter of our state’s workforce and billions of dollars into local economies in every corner of our state.

Every surrounding state, except Wisconsin, has a higher minimum wage than Iowa.

Illinois: $8.25
Missouri: $8.60
Wisconsin: $7.25
Minnesota: $9.86
South Dakota: $9.10
Nebraska: $9.00

Iowa's minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 for at least 11 years. Since 2008, Iowa and New Hampshire are the only two states that had a minimum wage of $7.25 (in 2008) and haven't raised it since.