Here’s What the US Minimum Wage Was the Year You Were Born

Date:

stockstudioX / iStock.com

Although the minimum wage is not nearly as low as it used to be, America still has a long way to go to fairly paying workers. The federal minimum wage is currently at $7.25, money that’s stayed the same since 2009.

Read More: I’m an Investor — I’m Making These Money Moves Immediately If Trump Wins

Check Out: 9 Things You Must Do to Grow Your Wealth in 2024

Even with no recent changes from the federal government, things appear to be moving in the right direction. In July 2019, the U.S. House passed a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025, which could increase the incomes of 17 million to 27 million minimum wage workers, according to Bloomberg.

In the meantime, many states and localities are taking it upon themselves to increase their minimum wages. However, due to inflation and the rising cost of living, it might not be enough to sustain workers. 

Take a look at how minimum wage has dramatically morphed throughout the years.

iraua / Shutterstock.comiraua / Shutterstock.com

iraua / Shutterstock.com

1938

Find Out: In 5 Years, These 2 Stocks Will Be More Valuable Than Apple

For You: 7 Reasons You Must Speak To a Financial Advisor To Boost Your Savings in 2024

Earning passive income doesn’t need to be difficult. You can start this week.

Yulia Grigoryeva / Shutterstock.comYulia Grigoryeva / Shutterstock.com

Yulia Grigoryeva / Shutterstock.com

1939

Explore More: 10 Things You Should Do When Your Child’s 529 Account Reaches $20,000

Kondor83 / Shutterstock.comKondor83 / Shutterstock.com

Kondor83 / Shutterstock.com

1940

PointImages / Shutterstock.comPointImages / Shutterstock.com

PointImages / Shutterstock.com

1941

AndreyPopov / istockphoto.comAndreyPopov / istockphoto.com

AndreyPopov / istockphoto.com

1942

antoniotruzzi / istockphoto.comantoniotruzzi / istockphoto.com

antoniotruzzi / istockphoto.com

1943

Discover More: 3 Types of Investments Predicted To Plummet in Value in Summer 2024

Visionsi / Shutterstock.comVisionsi / Shutterstock.com

Visionsi / Shutterstock.com

1944

Eo naya / Shutterstock.comEo naya / Shutterstock.com

Eo naya / Shutterstock.com

1945

g-stockstudio / istockphoto.comg-stockstudio / istockphoto.com

g-stockstudio / istockphoto.com

1946

golubovy / istockphoto.comgolubovy / istockphoto.com

golubovy / istockphoto.com

1947

PointImages / Shutterstock.comPointImages / Shutterstock.com

PointImages / Shutterstock.com

1948

Harsanyi Andras / Shutterstock.comHarsanyi Andras / Shutterstock.com

Harsanyi Andras / Shutterstock.com

1949

Jacob Lund / Shutterstock.comJacob Lund / Shutterstock.com

Jacob Lund / Shutterstock.com

1950

Kichigin / Shutterstock.comKichigin / Shutterstock.com

Kichigin / Shutterstock.com

1951

lOvE lOvE / Shutterstock.comlOvE lOvE / Shutterstock.com

lOvE lOvE / Shutterstock.com

1952

Mocha.VP / Shutterstock.comMocha.VP / Shutterstock.com

Mocha.VP / Shutterstock.com

1953

PenelopeB / istockphoto.comPenelopeB / istockphoto.com

PenelopeB / istockphoto.com

1954

PeopleImages / istockphoto.comPeopleImages / istockphoto.com

PeopleImages / istockphoto.com

1955

Kondor83 / Shutterstock.comKondor83 / Shutterstock.com

Kondor83 / Shutterstock.com

1956

Kzenon / Shutterstock.comKzenon / Shutterstock.com

Kzenon / Shutterstock.com

1957

Nonwarit / Shutterstock.comNonwarit / Shutterstock.com

Nonwarit / Shutterstock.com

1958

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.comRawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

1959

PK.pawaris / Shutterstock.comPK.pawaris / Shutterstock.com

PK.pawaris / Shutterstock.com

1960

cunaplus / Shutterstock.comcunaplus / Shutterstock.com

cunaplus / Shutterstock.com

1961

SolStock / istockphoto.comSolStock / istockphoto.com

SolStock / istockphoto.com

1962

Sturti / istockphoto.comSturti / istockphoto.com

Sturti / istockphoto.com

1963

Topalov Djura / istockphoto.comTopalov Djura / istockphoto.com

Topalov Djura / istockphoto.com

1964

www.BillionPhotos.com / Shutterstock.comwww.BillionPhotos.com / Shutterstock.com

www.BillionPhotos.com / Shutterstock.com

1965

www.BillionPhotos.com / Shutterstock.comwww.BillionPhotos.com / Shutterstock.com

www.BillionPhotos.com / Shutterstock.com

1966

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.comAndrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

1967

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.comAndrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

1968

AndreyPopov / istockphoto.comAndreyPopov / istockphoto.com

AndreyPopov / istockphoto.com

1969

bikeriderlondon / Shutterstock.combikeriderlondon / Shutterstock.com

bikeriderlondon / Shutterstock.com

1970

create jobs 51 / Shutterstock.comcreate jobs 51 / Shutterstock.com

create jobs 51 / Shutterstock.com

1971

©Shutterstock.com©Shutterstock.com

©Shutterstock.com

1972

AndreyPopov / iStock.comAndreyPopov / iStock.com

AndreyPopov / iStock.com

1973

George Peters / istockphoto.comGeorge Peters / istockphoto.com

George Peters / istockphoto.com

1974

FangXiaNuo / istockphoto.comFangXiaNuo / istockphoto.com

FangXiaNuo / istockphoto.com

1975

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.comAndrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

1976

Peter Bernik / Shutterstock.comPeter Bernik / Shutterstock.com

Peter Bernik / Shutterstock.com

1977

lakov Filimonov / Shutterstock.comlakov Filimonov / Shutterstock.com

lakov Filimonov / Shutterstock.com

1978

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.comAndrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

1979

kurhan / Shutterstock.comkurhan / Shutterstock.com

kurhan / Shutterstock.com

1980

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.comRawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

1981

IS_ImageSource / istockphoto.comIS_ImageSource / istockphoto.com

IS_ImageSource / istockphoto.com

1982

gilaxia / istockphoto.comgilaxia / istockphoto.com

gilaxia / istockphoto.com

1983

Kali Nine LLC / istockphoto.comKali Nine LLC / istockphoto.com

Kali Nine LLC / istockphoto.com

1984

gilaxia / istockphoto.comgilaxia / istockphoto.com

gilaxia / istockphoto.com

1985

sahilu / istockphoto.comsahilu / istockphoto.com

sahilu / istockphoto.com

1986

kadmy / istockphoto.comkadmy / istockphoto.com

kadmy / istockphoto.com

1987

EdStock / istockphoto.comEdStock / istockphoto.com

EdStock / istockphoto.com

1988

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.comAndrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

1989

Minerva Studio / Shutterstock.comMinerva Studio / Shutterstock.com

Minerva Studio / Shutterstock.com

1990

Squaredpixels / istockphoto.comSquaredpixels / istockphoto.com

Squaredpixels / istockphoto.com

1991

withGod / Shutterstock.comwithGod / Shutterstock.com

withGod / Shutterstock.com

1992

sturti / istockphoto.comsturti / istockphoto.com

sturti / istockphoto.com

1993

Sergey Mironov / Shutterstock.comSergey Mironov / Shutterstock.com

Sergey Mironov / Shutterstock.com

1994

Photographee.eu / Shutterstock.comPhotographee.eu / Shutterstock.com

Photographee.eu / Shutterstock.com

1995

M_a_y_a / istockphoto.comM_a_y_a / istockphoto.com

M_a_y_a / istockphoto.com

1996

Leonardo Patrizi / istockphoto.comLeonardo Patrizi / istockphoto.com

Leonardo Patrizi / istockphoto.com

1997

Juanmonino / istockphoto.comJuanmonino / istockphoto.com

Juanmonino / istockphoto.com

1998

gilaxia / istockphoto.comgilaxia / istockphoto.com

gilaxia / istockphoto.com

1999

Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock.comMonkey Business Images / Shutterstock.com

Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock.com

2000

ferrerivideo / istockphoto.comferrerivideo / istockphoto.com

ferrerivideo / istockphoto.com

2001

Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock.comMonkey Business Images / Shutterstock.com

Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock.com

2002

GaudiLab / Shutterstock.comGaudiLab / Shutterstock.com

GaudiLab / Shutterstock.com

2003

andresr / istockphoto.comandresr / istockphoto.com

andresr / istockphoto.com

2004

a katz / Shutterstock.coma katz / Shutterstock.com

a katz / Shutterstock.com

2005

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.comAndrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

2006

kadmy / istockphoto.comkadmy / istockphoto.com

kadmy / istockphoto.com

2007

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.comRawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

2008

everything possible / Shutterstock.comeverything possible / Shutterstock.com

everything possible / Shutterstock.com

2009

Pressmaster / Shutterstock.comPressmaster / Shutterstock.com

Pressmaster / Shutterstock.com

2010

wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock.comwavebreakmedia / Shutterstock.com

wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock.com

2011

kurhan / Shutterstock.comkurhan / Shutterstock.com

kurhan / Shutterstock.com

2012

shapecharge / istockphoto.comshapecharge / istockphoto.com

shapecharge / istockphoto.com

2013

©Shutterstock.com©Shutterstock.com

©Shutterstock.com

2014

g-stockstudio / Shutterstock.comg-stockstudio / Shutterstock.com

g-stockstudio / Shutterstock.com

2015

a katz / Shutterstock.coma katz / Shutterstock.com

a katz / Shutterstock.com

2016

Page Light Studios / Shutterstock.comPage Light Studios / Shutterstock.com

Page Light Studios / Shutterstock.com

2017

YinYang / iStock.comYinYang / iStock.com

YinYang / iStock.com

2018

Yaoinlove / Shutterstock.comYaoinlove / Shutterstock.com

Yaoinlove / Shutterstock.com

2019

ChickenStock Images / ShutterstockChickenStock Images / Shutterstock

ChickenStock Images / Shutterstock

2020

  • U.S. minimum wage: $7.25

  • In 2020 dollars: $7.25

Chase Brock / GOBankingRates.comChase Brock / GOBankingRates.com

Chase Brock / GOBankingRates.com

2021

AndreyPopov / Getty Images/iStockphotoAndreyPopov / Getty Images/iStockphoto

AndreyPopov / Getty Images/iStockphoto

2022

Gabrielle Olya and Amen Oyiboke-Osifo contributed to the reporting for this article.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Here’s What the US Minimum Wage Was the Year You Were Born

Share post:

Popular

More like this
Related

What to watch: Week 13 college football viewing guide

The penultimate week of the 2024 regular season is...

Serie A fixture difficulty ratings: who has toughest games until the end of the year?

Lazio’s next Serie A opponents rated by difficultyLazio’s upcoming...

Fritz pulls USA level with Australia in Davis Cup quarters

Taylor Fritz beat Australia's Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4...

Former Barcelona midfielder heaps praise on Madrid wonderkid

Former Barcelona and Turkey star Arda Turan believes Real...