Idaho to fall further behind its neighbors on minimum wage

Benton Alexander Smith//June 21, 2017//

Listen to this article

These Boise barristas earn the state minimum wage. Photo by Erika Sather-Smith. — These Boise barristas earn the federal minimum wage, which is also the minimum in Idaho. Several of the state’s neighbors increase their minimum wages annually. File photo.

Businesses in Lewiston, Moscow, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene have felt pressure from the neighboring state of Washington since it passed a law to incrementally increase its minimum wage to $13.50 by 2020. Soon Idaho businesses will feel similar pressure from other directions, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Four of Idaho’s six neighboring states will raise their minimum wage in each of the next three years, according to a new report by the Idaho Department of Labor.

Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota all follow the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which hasn’t changed since 2009.

The rest of the northwestern states and much of the country set their own minimum requirements. Twenty-one states either raised their minimum wages in January or will within the year, according to Kathryn Tacke, regional economist with the Idaho Department of Labor.

That includes Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Montana, South Dakota and Colorado. Tacke said it would be less expensive for Idaho businesses to raise their own wages than to train a new employee every time a worker leaves to work in a neighboring state.

Turnover costs often equal three months of wages for entry-level employees and more for advanced positions, she said.

Northwestern states are raising their wages

Many states increase their minimum wage regularly to account for changes in the cost of living. The coalition Lift Up Idaho has tried to get a bill that would raise Idaho’s minimum wage by two dollars through the Legislature each of the last five years, but it has never passed through a committee in the House or Senate.