State by state, wages are slowly going up for those at the bottom end of the economic ladder. But there’s such a long way to go. This map from 2014 doesn’t include the minimum wage for servers and other tipped work, which is currently $2.13 per hour. Raising the minimum wage would lift a lot of people out of poverty and push real dollars into local economies all over the country.
And what’s with the purple states that have laws on the books pegging minimum wage at less than the federal minimum?! States rights, indeed.
