Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since 2009. Minimum wage increase legislation has been proposed both by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Senate, writes Claire Kovach for Keystone Research Center.

Senate Bill 743 was meant to increase the minimum wage to $11 per hour on Jan. 1, 2014, with additional $2 per hour increases in 2025 and 2026.

However, by the end of 2023, the Pennsylvania Senate did not hold a floor vote for S.B. 743 or any minimum wage legislation.

Advocates of this legislation say that low minimum wage worsens income inequality and widens pay disparities by gender and race.

The Keystone Researcher Center outlines who will benefit from a minimum wage of $15 per hour in 2026.

According to its analysis, over 24 percent of Pennsylvania’s workforce —more than 1.34 million workers — would see their wages increase.

Current minimum wage workers as well as those who earn slightly more than $15 per hour would benefit from the new legislation because pay scales will be adjusted upward.

It would also reduce poverty and decrease gender and race pay disparities, and infuse the state economy with more money.

Linking annual wage adjustments to inflation also means that wages will no longer lag behind the cost of living.

In Montgomery County, 75,000 workers would benefit from a $15 minimum wage. That is 16 percent of the workforce and only 17 percent are 19 or younger.

Twenty-seven percent are actually over the age of 40.

A majority of the people who would benefit in the county are women and most work full-time and have at least some college education.

Forty-five percent of Montco residents who will benefit are people of color. See the graphic below for more breakdown of demographics.

Read more about who would benefit from a minimum wage increase at the Keystone Research Center.

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