Report shows 616,700 Ohio workers would benefit from minimum wage increasing to $15 an hour by 2030
Scioto County has the lowest cost-of-living for an adult in Ohio, but a minimum wage worker would have to work full time for a year and eight months to pay for a year’s worth of expenses, according to a new report.
A single adult in Scioto County working full-time in a minimum wage job would need to be making $18.66 an hour to cover costs, according to a new minimum wage report by Policy Matters Ohio. Ohio’s minimum wage is $11 an hour.
“We’re already looking at minimum wage workers not being able to make ends meet on the current wage, and wages really need to be raised in order for us to make sure that all Ohioans have the same or improved standard of living,” said Heather Smith, one of the report’s authors.
On the flip side, Delaware County has the highest cost of living for a single adult and a minimum wage worker there would have to work nearly two and a half years to cover a year’s worth of expenses, according to the report.
An Ohioan working full-time and earning minimum wage makes $22,880 a year, according to the new report.
A single person in Ohio could pay for the costs of everyday living as determined by the Economic Policy Institute with a full-time, year-round job that pays between $18.66 and $26.82 an hour, depending on the county, according to the report.
The Economic Policy Institute’s cost of living represents a modest standard of living including housing, food, transportation, child care, health care, and taxes.
Ohioans passed a constitutional amendment in 2006 that increases the state minimum wage every year based on the consumer price index.
“Ohio’s minimum wage increases with inflation,” Smith said. “The minimum wage hasn’t lost value over the last 20 years, but it hasn’t gained value either.”
The state’s minimum wage next year will likely be $11.20 an hour, she said.
“It’s not much,” Smith said.
Under Ohio’s current policy, workers will likely not see a $15 minimum wage until 2034, according to the report.
Policy Matters Ohio recommends the state increase the minimum wage one dollar each year until reaching $15 per hour in 2030. More than a dozen states and Washington, D.C. have minimum wages of $15.
Economic Policy Institute modeling shows 616,700 Ohio workers would get a raise due to a state minimum wage increase of $15 an hour by 2030, according to the report.
“This is really just a common sense thing for Ohio legislators to consider, or Ohioans to consider for a ballot (initiative) that would raise the quality of life for folks without having a negative impact across the economy,” Smith said.
A couple of Democratic bills would raise Ohio’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, but neither of those bills have had any hearings.
Ohio House Bill 34 would do what Policy Matters Ohio is suggesting — increase the state’s minimum wage to $11 per hour in 2026, $12 per hour in 2027, $13 per hour in 2028, $14 per hour in 2029, and $15 per hour in 2030.
State Reps. Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus, and Ismail Mohamed, D-Columbus, introduced the bill.
Ohio Senate Bill 234 would raise the minimum wage by a dollar per hour each year until reaching $15 per hour in 2029. Ohio State Sen. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, and Ohio Sen. Hearcel Craig, D-Columbus, introduced the bill.
The bill would also eliminate the tipped employee minimum wage and require all employees to be paid the state’s minimum wage.
Ohioans need to be making at least $22.51 an hour working a full-time job to be able to afford a “modest” two-bedroom apartment, according to a report last year by Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not gone up since 2009.
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