Missouri's minimum wage workers can expect a pay raise with the new year.
The minimum wage will increase to $12 per hour starting Jan. 1, 2023 as the last increment of a voter-approved ballot proposition takes effect throughout the state. The current minimum wage in 2022 is $11.15 an hour.
The base pay for workers has been increasing by 85 cents each year in Missouri since 2018, when voters passed a measure to raise the minimum wage by more than 50 percent over five years. The minimum wage was $7.85 when the proposition was approved.
Missouri is joining the likes of Illinois and Hawaii, both of which had $12 minimum wages as of October, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Thirteen states pay a minimum wage higher than $12 per hour and 30 states provide a minimum wage less than $12. Five states don't require a minimum wage at all, according to the federal agency.
Missouri's minimum wage is well above the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour, which 15 states use.
All private businesses, except retail and service businesses that make less than $500,000 in annual sales, are required to pay workers the minimum wage in Missouri. The state's minimum wage law doesn't apply to state employers.
Employers with tipped workers are required to pay those employees at least $6 per hour, plus any amount necessary to bring the total compensation to a minimum of $12 per hour.
2023 is the last year the ballot measure sets an 85-cent increase. Starting in 2024, the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations can increase or decrease the minimum wage by the same rate as changes to the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers.
In November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported prices for urban wage earners and clerical workers had increased 7.1 percent from a year ago.