Kansas minimum wage being left in the dust
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Kansas is now surrounded on three sides by states with higher minimum wages. We spoke to Professor of Economics at K-State Valerie Bostwick about the impact it has on the Sunflower State.
On Nov. 5, Missourians voted to pass Proposition A, an initiative that will increase the minimum wage to $15/hr. The vote passed with a 57.6% majority vote, adding another state to those surrounding Kansas with higher minimum wages.
According to Bostwick, being bordered by states that have higher minimum wages creates a strong incentive for people looking at minimum-wage jobs to drive a little further to a neighboring state to get paid much more.
In Kansas, workers earn $7.25/hr or $15,080 per year. At $15,000/yr, Kansans earn 3.5x less than the annual living wage in Kansas of $54,601; falling into 2022 poverty thresholds set by the U.S. Census Bureau. On the national level in 2022, the poverty threshold for a single person under 65 years old was $15,230. Kansas is one of 20 states that matches the federally mandated minimum wage rate of $7.25/hr.
"The primary benefit would be that it can potentially increase employment," Bostwick said on the benefit of a low minimum wage. "If there are businesses that are on that cusp that can't afford to hire at the higher minimum wage, then when you raise the minimum wage they stop offering those positions. A lot of the research is contentious; a lot of papers show that a lot of that isn’t happening. It isn’t a binding constraint for a lot of firms."
"The obvious one is that the employees aren't making a livable wage and their quality of life would be much better," Bostwick said on the benefits of raising the minimum wage.
Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri have all passed bills that will increase their minimum wages to nearly $15/hr. Meanwhile, Kansas Senate Bill 70 - a bill that would've seen the minimum wage increase to $16/hr by 2027 - died in committee in April 2024.
States increasing their minimum wage:
- Nebraska
- Current minimum wage: $12/hr
- 2026 minimum wage: $16/hr
- Colorado
- Current minimum wage: $14.42/hr
- 2025 minimum wage: $14.81/hr
- Missouri
- Current minimum wage: $12/hr
- 2026 minimum wage: $15/hr
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