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Over a third of US states are set to raise their minimum hourly wage in 2026, but worker advocates including Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday decried a federal minimum wage that’s remained at $7.25 since 2009 — and just $2.13 an hour for tipped workers for over three decades.

Minimum wage hikes are set to go into effect in 19 states on Thursday: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

Increases range from 28 cents in Minnesota to $2 in Hawaii, with an average hike of 67 cents across all 19 states. More than 8.3 million workers will benefit from the increases, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The mean minimum wage in those 19 states will rise to $14.57 in 2026, up from $13.90 this year.

Three more states — Alaska, Florida, and Oregon — plus Washington, DC are scheduled to raise their minimum wages later in 2026.

In addition to the state hikes, nearly 50 counties and municipalities plan to raise their minimum wages in the coming year, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP). These include San Diego, California — where the minimum wage for hospitality workers is set to rise to $25 an hour by 2030 — and Portland, Maine, where all workers will earn at least $19 by 2028.

However, the federal........

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