This is a non-issue. Nobody is only getting paid minimum wage. Even McDonald’s in Shamokin is paying $15/hr to start.

Check this out:

> Wage Distribution of All Hourly Workers

>• In 2021, there were an estimated 63,800 Pennsylvania workers earning minimum wage or less. This is the lowest number of at or below minimum wage workers on record in this annual report series. It is 10,600 (14.2 percent) lower than the previous low of 2020 when it was 74,400. Workers earning minimum wage or less represented 2.0 percent of all hourly workers and 1.1 percent of all workers.

>• From 2020 to 2021, Pennsylvania’s hourly employment increased by 91,300 (+2.9 percent), while Pennsylvania’s overall employment increased by 26,200 (+0.4 percent). U.S. hourly employment increased by 2,807,000 (+3.8 percent), while the nation’s overall employment increased by 4,778,000 (+3.2 percent). The proportion of all workers receiving hourly rates in 2021 increased slightly in both Pennsylvania and the nation from 2020. In 2021, the percentage of the employed earning hourly rates was higher in Pennsylvania (55 percent) than in the U.S. overall (50 percent).

>• In 2021, there were an estimated 586,000 Pennsylvania workers earning near minimum wage ($7.26-$12.00). This was 107,100 (-15.4 percent) lower than in 2020 when it was 693,100.

>• Labor markets in the U.S. and Pennsylvania continued rebounding in both employment and wages from the pandemic-induced recession. The increase in employment and hourly workers was concentrated in higher wage workers which contributed to both the absolute and relative changes in the wage distribution. The volumes and proportions of hourly workers in the lower wage categories fell, while increasing for those above $12.00 an hour. The median wage in Pennsylvania increased from $16.50 in 2020 to $17.00 in 2021, while it rose from $16.32 to $17.00 in the nation.

>• Pennsylvania had a higher percentage (2.0 percent) of workers at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 than the nation (1.4 percent). About six out of every 10 wage earners in both Pennsylvania and the U.S. were in the highest wage category (of above $15.00). Pennsylvania’s share of wage earners in this category rose by 2.1 percentage points to 59.0 percent, while the nation’s percentage rose 3.9 percentage points to 60.0 percent.