![\"Mayor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bgm26pj0n9o808gk.jpg\")
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PHILADELPHIA – It takes less than 10 minutes to drive from Philadelphia into Camden, New Jersey, but it may feel worlds apart for minimum-wage workers.<\/p>\n
By the numbers:<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania remains fixed to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Because state law preempts local municipalities from setting their own private-sector wages, the city is legally barred from bridging the gap locally.<\/p>\n
However, relief for Philadelphia-area workers is often just a short transit ride or drive away. New Jersey’s minimum wage increased to $15.92 an hour this year, while Delaware has also left Pennsylvania behind with a minimum wage of $15 an hour.<\/p>\n
A full-time worker in either New Jersey or Delaware makes more than double what a minimum-wage worker in Pennsylvania makes, giving Philadelphia residents the motivation to possibly commute out of the city daily for work.<\/p>\n
Dig deeper:<\/p>\n
Philadelphia businesses face a unique crisis, competing with the $15 and over wages in New Jersey and Delaware, while potentially suffering from worker turnover as people secure jobs across the river.<\/p>\n
Federal baseline <\/p>\n
Big picture view:<\/p>\n
The federal minimum wage was set to $7.25 in 2009 and hasn’t moved a cent in 17 years. Pennsylvania is currently one of about 20 states that still default to the federal wage, making it an outlier in the otherwise high-paying Northeast corridor.<\/p>\n
The Source: Information from this article was provided by the Economic Policy Institute.<\/p>\n
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