Federal Minimum Wage Officially Falls Below Poverty Line. Trump Admin Has No Plans to Increase It

The U.S. federal minimum wage of $7.25, unchanged since 2009 despite a 37% increase in the cost of living, has officially fallen below the poverty line, and the Trump administration has no plans to raise it.

Twenty-one states currently have minimum wages at or below the federal level of $7.25 an hour, including Indiana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Texas, according to the National Conference of State Legislature. At that rate, a full-time worker putting in 40 hours a week earns just $15,080 a year.

The Department of Health and Human Services set the federal poverty threshold at $15,650 for a single-person household, meaning that in these 21 states, which are concentrated in the South, millions of full-time workers are earning below the poverty line. One in five workers with just one job in those states lives in poverty, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

A stagnant federal minimum wage continues to keep millions of Americans in poverty and is a major factor in the nation's worsening homelessness crisis. In 2024, a record 771,480 people were homeless on a single night, an 18% increase from 2023, and between 40% and 60% of them were employed.

The crisis is driven by rising inflation, a critical shortage of affordable housing, and, of course, wages that failed to keep up with the cost of living. Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would lift between 1.8 and 3.7 million Americans, including up to 1.3 million children, out of poverty, according to the EPI.

Despite the dire picture these numbers and statistics paint for the country, the Trump administration's stated goal to "make America great again" does not include a plan to increase the federal minimum wage.

During U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent's confirmation hearing, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who has advocated for a $17 federal minimum wage, asked the hedge fund manager, who boasts a net worth of at least $521 million, whether he would increase the federal minimum wage. Bessent claimed "the minimum wage is more of a statewide and regional issue."

"So you don't think we should change the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour?" Sanders reiterated, according to a clip circulating on X.

"No, sir," Bessent declared.

"Republicans hate workers," an X user commented. "They want us sick, poor, uneducated, and obedient."