A majority of Americans (50%) say the minimum wage should be raised to at least $10.50, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey, including 9% who favor a $12.50 minimum wage.
The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour, but 30 states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages above that. The last time the federal minimum wage was increased was in 2009.
Only 26% of Americans say the minimum wage should be $15 an hour or more, but just 14% think it should stay at $7.25.
Democrats in the Rasmussen survey want a higher hourly minimum wage, with 36% saying it should be raised to at least $15, but only 18% of Republicans and 22% of those unaffiliated with either major party agree.
However, 42% of Republicans would support raising the minimum wage to at least $10.50 an hour, as would 59% of Democrats and 50% of the unaffiliated.
Economists argue raising the minimum wage would boost growth as it puts more discretionary dollars in the pockets of millions of workers, and the money would then flow to retailers and other businesses.
In the survey, 41% say raising the hourly minimum wage would help the U.S. economy, down from 44% in February 2022, while 38% say raising the minimum wage will instead hurt the economy.
A majority of Democrats (65%) say raising the minimum wage would help the U.S. economy, but only 26% of Republicans agree with that, as do 28% of unaffiliated voters.
Americans under 40 are more likely than their elders to say raising the minimum wage would help the economy, but are less likely to think the minimum should be $12.50 or more.
Men (45%) are significantly more likely than women (31%) to say raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy. While 43% of women say the minimum hourly wage should be at least $12.50, just 27% of men agree. Women over 40 are most likely to favor raising the minimum to at least $15 an hour.
Twenty-four percent of whites, 34% of Blacks, and 20% of other minorities say the minimum wage should be at least $15.
The survey of 1,234 American adults was conducted April 3-4 and 7, 2024, by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
Peter Malbin ✉
Peter Malbin, a Newsmax writer, covers news and politics. He has 30 years of news experience, including for the New York Times, New York Post and Newsweek.com.
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