GREAT FALLS — Montana’s minimum wage will increase from $8.65 per hour to $8.75 per hour beginning on Friday, January 1, 2021.
The state reports that an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Montana workers, or about two percent of the workforce, received hourly wages less than $8.75 per hour in 2020.
At the beginning of 2020, the minimum wage in Montana was raised from $8.50 to $8.65.
The minimum wage is determined by taking the current minimum wage of $8.65 and increasing it by the CPI-U increase from August of 2019 to August 2020. The CPI-U increased by 1.31% (unadjusted) over the year ending August 2020.
To keep the minimum wage at the same purchasing power as the prior year, the wage should increase by $0.11 per hour, according to the Montana Department of Labor & Industry. However, since state statute requires the wage to rounded to the nearest 5 cents, the 2021 minimum wage rate will be $8.75.
In 2020, the District of Columbia and 29 U.S. states, including Montana, have minimum wage rates that exceed the federal rate of $7.25 per hour.
From the U.S. Department of Labor (website):
