Serving Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, MI

Minimum wage increases, still short of Washtenaw County's living wage

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio

401(K) 2012 - Creative Commons

Effective at the start of 2023, the hourly minimum wage in Michigan rose above $10.

The state’s minimum wage saw a small jump from $9.87 to $10.10. Shamar Herron is the executive director of Michigan Works Southeast, an employment support organization. He says while the increase is a step in the right direction, it’s still well below the living wage for Washtenaw County, which is $16.36 for an individual.

“You know, anytime we can get more dollars into our hard-working residents’ pockets, that’s a positive. We do have to consider our businesses and where do they squeeze those margins to be able to afford those wages.”

Thestate’s 2018 ballot proposalwas supposed to boost the minimum wage to a little more than $13 per hour. That increase was reduced by the Republican-led Legislature. A court ruling will be announced in February to determine if that reduction was constitutional.

Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support.  Make your donation to WEMU todayto keep your community NPR station thriving.

Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Josh Hakala is the general assignment reporter for the WEMU news department.