After the longest period in history without an increase, the federal minimum wage today is worth 28% less than 13 years ago–and 39% less than in 1968

Real value of the minimum wage (adjusted for inflation)

All values in September 2023 dollars, adjusted using the chained CPI-U since 2000, extended retroactively to the CPI-U-RS (1978-1999), CPI-U-X1 (1967–1977), and CPI-U (1966 and before). Calculations by Ben Zipperer, Economic Policy Institute. Download the data or view the code that produces this figure.