The minimum wage isn't a living wage in any state in the U.S. Not one.

By Laura Clawson
Friday Nov 25, 2016 · 11:00 AM EST

The highest minimum wage in the country is $11.50 an hour, in Washington, D.C. This is something of a problem, because the lowest living wage for a single adult in the country is $14.50, in South Dakota. South Dakota’s minimum wage, meanwhile, is $8.55 an hour, while the District of Columbia’s single adult living wage is $21.92.

Those numbers come to us courtesy of a new report from the People’s Action Institute. The big picture:

Forty-three states have a living wage above $15 per hour for a single adult, and in no state can a single adult make ends meet on less than $14.50 per hour. Yet, only nine states have a minimum wage greater than $9 per hour and while California and Massachusetts reach $10 per hour, each still falls well short of providing a living wage. Even Washington, D.C.’s recent minimum wage increase to $11.50 provides only 52 percent of the District’s single adult living wage.
Nebraska comes the closest to having a minimum wage that’s a living wage—but that doesn’t mean it’s close. Nebraska’s minimum wage of $9 is 60 percent of its living wage of $15.03. Just 18 other states have a minimum wage that’s at least 50 percent of the living wage. Two—Hawaii and Virginia—are below 40 percent.

When you look at it this way, the demand for a $15 an hour minimum wage is freakin’ modest.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/11/25/1586722/-The-minimum-wage-isn-t-a-living-wage-in-any-state-in-the-U-S-Not-one