To: Pennsylvania Lawmakers and Staff
From: Keystone Research Center, Claire Kovach, kovach@keystoneresearch.org
Date: May 8, 2025
Subject: Updated information and resources about the minimum wage
An increase in the Pennsylvania minimum wage appears to be receiving serious attention this year within
the state Capitol. In response, Keystone Research Center has updated some facts about the minimum
wage so that lawmakers can make informed decisions about the minimum wage. This memo summarizes
this new information.
- A $15 per hour minimum wage by January 1,2026, would raise the wages of 865,600 Pennsylvania
workers. - This estimate includes 460,000 workers who would directly benefit from a $15 minimum wage (these
are workers earning under $15), and 405,600 workers who would indirectly benefit (they earn just
above $15 but would see a small wage bump if the minimum wage increased to $15 per hour, as
employers adjust their pay scales).These estimates do not include tipped PA workers. - We estimate that the 865,600 workers benefiting would see an average $2,014 yearly raise, with a total change in annual wage of $1.74 billion dollars.
- Over half of the total change in wages—$938,129,000—would benefit 428,700 Pennsylvania workers whose families currently have incomes under 200% of the poverty line.
The Independent Fiscal Office analyzed a $15 minimum wage in terms of: personal income tax increases,
corporate net income tax decreases, sales and use tax increases, and personal income tax refund decline.
A $15 per hour minimum wage by January 1, 2026, would increase revenue by $65 million annually after the
proposal was fully phased in.
Here are new and updated resources on the minimum wage:
- A KRC “Living Wage” Map (derived from the MIT Living Wage Calculator), which shows the wage in each county necessary to keep a single worker (with no children) off anti-poverty programs and cover basic necessities. The level of living wage shown does not allow the individual to purchase any prepared foods, eat outside the home, or spend a single dollar on savings or entertainment. This living wage also varies significantly, with a living wage in the high-cost county nearly 50% above the living wage in the low-cost county. This underscores why it is important to allow high-cost areas to have minimum wages higher than the state level.
- The Economic Policy Institute’s Minimum Wage Tracker shows the current and upcoming minimum
wage levels for each state, including information on different sub-state minimum wage levels and those
that have indexed their minimum wage to inflation. This
tracker shows how far Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has fallen behind many other states.