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Kansas Enters New Year With No Minimum Wage Increases

Missourians are beginning the new year with a bump in minimum wage but Kansans are still struggling to experience an increase for more than a decade.

Posted on January 2, 2024

The state of Missouri announced it will be raising its minimum wage for workers in November, a boost for Missourians who are heading back to work for the new year, however, Kansans have yet to see their mage increase since 2008.

In 2008 Kansas increased its minimum wage from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour—or $15,080 per year—and has not experienced any change since. Meanwhile, the neighboring state of Missouri has seen a steady increase in its minimum wage year-over-year.

Kansans who earn tips receive a federal minimum wage of $2.13 per hour.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2024, the Missouri minimum wage will increase to $12.30 from the previous year’s $12.00.

At $15,000 per year, Kansans earn 3.5 times less than the annual living wage in Kansas of $54,601, falling into 2022 poverty thresholds set by the U.S. Census Bureau, KSNT reports.

The poverty threshold for a single person under 65 years old was $15,230, according the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Jan. of 2023, Kansas Sen.Ethan Corson introduced Senate Bill 70 which, if passed, would see the Kansas Minimum wage increase to $10 by Jan. 1, 2024, with an additional increase of $2 every year until 2027 when the minimum wage would reach $16.