LANSING, Mich. — Michigan's minimum wage workers will get a raise on Jan. 1, thanks to a state law passed in 2018.
Michigan's minimum wage will increase by 22 cents— from $9.65 to $9.87 per hour.
Michigan law requires automatic increases to the minimum wage each year through 2030, unless the state's unemployment rate is above 8.5 percent.
That was the case last year, so the minimum wage remained the same in 2021.
Although the pay increase is welcome news for workers, the impact is dampened by high inflation. The minimum wage pay increase is 2.3 percent but inflation since the last increase has been far higher, 6.2 percent from October 2020 to October of this year, according to the Consumer Price Index.
According to MIT's cost of living calculator, Michigan's new minimum wage is still just above poverty wage and far below the livable wage of $14.08 for a single person with no children.
