Michigan minimum wage increases slightly, still below livable wage

Wage remains below estimated livable wage

How much is enough for a minimum wage? (KPRC-Pixabay)

Employees making minimum wage in Michigan will get a slight raise in 2022.

Michigan’s minimum wage rate will increase to $9.87 on January 1, 2022, an increase from the current $9.65. Michigan’s Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act of 2018 establishes the annual schedule and increases.

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The Michigan Wage & Hour Division announced that while the law does prohibit scheduled increases when the state’s annual average unemployment rate for the preceding calendar year is above 8.5%, it is highly unlikely Michigan will exceed this threshold causing another delay as occurred in 2021.

Related: Claim your cash: Check Michigan’s unclaimed property database, you could have money waiting

Effective January 1, 2022:

  • Michigan’s minimum wage will increase to $9.87 an hour.
  • The 85% rate for minors aged 16 and 17 increases to $8.39 an hour.
  • Tipped employees rates of pay increases to $3.75 an hour.
  • The training wage of $4.25 an hour for newly hired employees ages 16 to 19 for their first 90 days of employment remains unchanged.

The $9.87 wage remains below what is considered a livable wage in Michigan, according to MIT’s Living Wage calculator, which estimates an adult without children needs to make at least $13.63 per hour to support themselves. That numbers goes up to $31.15 for an adult with one child.

More: Should minimum wage increase? A look at key data points


About the Author
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Ken Haddad has been with Local 4/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He helps lead news coverage and content across broadcast and digital platforms. He's from the Metro Detroit area, and loves covering important news (and sports) in his hometown.