The efforts of some members of Congress to get a $15 minimum wage into the new stimulus package have failed. The argument that the threshold is important is it would lift millions of Americans out of poverty. The current minimum wage mandate by the federal government is $7.25, although it is much higher in a number of states.

The arguments against the plan often focus on its cost to small businesses and those that operate on slim margins. Participants on this side of the debate claim that a higher minimum wage would cause layoffs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reports that a $15 figure could cause 1.4 million layoffs between now and 2025.

The number of people affected by a $15 increase in the minimum wage varies from state to state. This is particularly true when it comes to percentages of workers in each state.

The Economic Policy Institute’s “Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift the pay of 32 million workers” research paper analyzed pay by state, unemployment rate, job type and effect on poverty levels. The foundation of the research was based on the “Raise the Wage Act of 2021,” which had five increases in the minimum wage between now and 2025 when it would reach the $15 threshold.

According to the report: “A level of $15 in 2025 would finally raise the living standards of the lowest-wage workers above levels those workers experienced 50 years ago.”

To get numbers by state, the EPI started with a national workforce figure of 151.7 million people in the United States. Of these, 22.1 million would be affected by an increase in the minimum wage to $15, a figure that equates to 21.2%.

Among the states, the one where the change would make the most difference is Mississippi. There, the percentage of the workforce affected would be 30.6%. 24/7 Wall St.’s own analysis of America’s richest and poorest states put Mississippi at the bottom.

This is the impact of increasing the minimum wage to $15 by 2025:

State	Workforce (Thousands)	Directly Affected
U.S. total	151,716	14.50%
Alabama	2,030	26.20%
Alaska	347	16.50%
Arizona	3,089	16.90%
Arkansas	1,257	25.70%
California	19,142	0.00%
Colorado	2,748	11.10%
Connecticut	1,777	1.20%
Delaware	443	19.40%
District of Columbia	373	0.90%
Florida	9,128	22.10%
Georgia	4,654	23.20%
Hawaii	723	17.20%
Idaho	731	25.40%
Illinois	6,171	0.90%
Indiana	3,066	19.70%
Iowa	1,534	23.30%
Kansas	1,387	22.80%
Kentucky	1,883	26.20%
Louisiana	1,986	27.10%
Maine	621	13.70%
Maryland	3,048	1.80%
Massachusetts	3,507	0.70%
Michigan	4,441	19.80%
Minnesota	2,802	8.80%
Mississippi	1,207	30.60%
Missouri	2,780	21.50%
Montana	467	23.00%
Nebraska	956	20.40%
Nevada	1,413	21.00%
New Hampshire	689	14.70%
New Jersey	4,407	0.80%
New Mexico	931	28.20%
New York	9,437	4.80%
North Carolina	4,572	23.50%
North Dakota	380	16.70%
Ohio	5,367	22.30%
Oklahoma	1,731	27.20%
Oregon	1,864	6.90%
Pennsylvania	5,965	21.60%
Rhode Island	519	14.50%
South Carolina	2,175	24.90%
South Dakota	418	21.40%
Tennessee	2,979	21.20%
Texas	13,509	24.80%
Utah	1,402	23.20%
Vermont	303	15.10%
Virginia	4,074	14.80%
Washington	3,441	0.10%
West Virginia	715	26.40%
Wisconsin	2,854	20.50%
Wyoming	275	22.90%

Click here to see which are America’s richest and poorest states.

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