While 23 states are raising their minimum wages early this year, Oklahoma still has a year and a half to decide whether to join the movement.
Traditionally, these increases help low-wage workers pay for necessities like food, housing and medicine. Instead, they are part of a growing push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour or higher to allow for non-essential business and provide a financial cushion.
According to a report provided exclusively to USA TODAY by the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, 21 states and 48 cities and counties across the country will increase their minimum wages on January 1.
In Oklahoma, the minimum wage could change after a statewide vote scheduled for June 2026.
While Oklahoma isn’t part of the more recent wave, here’s what you need to know about the changes happening across the US
Which states are making the change?
On New Year’s Day, three states — Illinois, Delaware and Rhode Island — will reach a $15 wage base for the first time, joining seven states that are already at or above that level. California and New Jersey will increase their minimum pay for some health care positions to $17 per hour.
Other states are implementing plans similar to Oklahoma’s, with minor adjustments to minimum overtime requirements.
Many states – including Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Ohio and Virginia – impose smaller base wage increases tied to annual cost-of-living increases based on the consumer price index.
What is Oklahoma doing to raise the minimum wage?
Oklahoma voters will decide on June 16, 2026, whether to raise the state’s minimum wage from $7.25, the same as the federal minimum wage, to $15 by 2029.
The ballot measure, State Question 832, would slowly increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029.
The initiative gained traction after organizers collected 157,287 signatures this fall and Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order in September setting the vote for June 2026. If approved, a wage increase wouldn’t take effect until 2027, nearly four years after the voting initiative. was submitted.
The state is one of 20 states that share the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which amounts to about $15,000 per year if employees work 40 hours per week.
According to a living wage calculator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the estimated living wage for an adult in Oklahoma without children is $19.33 per hour. The estimate only increases if there are dependents.
For one adult with one child, this rises to $32.68 per hour, while two adults with two children can earn $23.33 per hour to earn a living wage. Even with a proposed rate of $15, this would still not provide a living wage.
However, the voting question also takes into account an annual adjustment based on the cost of living.
How will raising the minimum wage help people?
By raising the minimum wage, Americans can keep pace with fluctuating annual inflation.
While it removes Oklahoma from the minority of states that still stick with the national rate, it still does not allow for the flexibility that comes with the unpredictability of inflation rates.
Throughout 2024, inflation peaked at 3.5% in March, falling to 2.4% in October.
Does an increase in the minimum wage cause prices to rise?
According to economist Dante DeAntonio of Moody’s Analytics, minimum wage increases have had no noticeable effect on inflation. Instead, state minimum wage increases in response to cost-of-living increases early this year led to sharper inflation but did not affect overall increases.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: The minimum wage will rise in 23 states by 2025. What about Oklahoma?
