The MIT living wage calculator estimates a living wage as a salary that is adequate enough to support a family without luxuries. For two working adults and one child, a living hourly wage for each adult would be $18.69 in West Virginia, $17.55 in South Carolina, $21.57 in Maryland, $20.01 in Utah and $19.33 in Wisconsin. Even in my own state of Vermont, the living wage is $19.58, more than $6 above the current state minimum wage.
So how does this stack up today, even though this was only two years ago.
Just for fun, let’s see some historical information about Vermont’s living wage. We’ll pick an arbitrary starting year, let’s say, 2016.
Month/Year
LW (2WA, 1C) as of Oldest Archive
Change from Previous Year
DEC/2016
$13.15
??
OCT/2017
$13.79
+0.64
APR/2018
$13.93
+0.14
NA/2019
N/A
N/A
OCT/2020
$14.75
+0.82
DEC/2021
$17.34
+2.59
NOV/2022
$19.71
+2.37
NOV/2023
$19.58
-0.13
DEC/2024
$23.38
+3.80
APR/2025
$26.26
+2.88
The Federal Minimum Wage has seen in increase of $0.09/hour on average from 1938 to 2009 when it was last changed.
Vermont’s “Living Wage” calculation from 2016 to 2025 has seen an average increase of $1.31/hour.
This change to $17/hour in 2030 represents a $0.40/hour average increase since 2009.
The Poverty Wage for 2 Adults 1 Child in Vermont was $5.00/hour in 2016 and is currently $6.41, seeing an average increase of $0.15/hour per year. If that rate of change keeps up, the Poverty Wage could be as much as $7.23/hour by 2030.
All this to say, obviously, this doesn’t even come close to keeping up with a living wage for Vermont, and would likely not keep up for many states, and many would still feel as though they’re treading water. If he were to simply reintroduce his bill from 2015, it would be a more radical change in the minimum wage, which would have the wage at $17 as of 2023. However, in 2017 he tried again, which was shooting for $15 by 2024… Now here we are in 2025, shooting for $17 in 2030…
It’s almost like the window for this change is shifting more and more to the right…
From: We Must Raise the Minimum Wage to a Living Wage (2023)
So how does this stack up today, even though this was only two years ago.
Just for fun, let’s see some historical information about Vermont’s living wage. We’ll pick an arbitrary starting year, let’s say, 2016.
The Federal Minimum Wage has seen in increase of $0.09/hour on average from 1938 to 2009 when it was last changed.
Vermont’s “Living Wage” calculation from 2016 to 2025 has seen an average increase of $1.31/hour.
This change to $17/hour in 2030 represents a $0.40/hour average increase since 2009.
The Poverty Wage for 2 Adults 1 Child in Vermont was $5.00/hour in 2016 and is currently $6.41, seeing an average increase of $0.15/hour per year. If that rate of change keeps up, the Poverty Wage could be as much as $7.23/hour by 2030.
All this to say, obviously, this doesn’t even come close to keeping up with a living wage for Vermont, and would likely not keep up for many states, and many would still feel as though they’re treading water. If he were to simply reintroduce his bill from 2015, it would be a more radical change in the minimum wage, which would have the wage at $17 as of 2023. However, in 2017 he tried again, which was shooting for $15 by 2024… Now here we are in 2025, shooting for $17 in 2030…
It’s almost like the window for this change is shifting more and more to the right…
stop doing math theres a freakin cheeto in the god dang white house!!! 15/hr!!! or do you want the cheeto to get a third term?!!