Jul 10, 2026
The federal minimum wage has remained unchanged for more than 15 years, even as the cost of housing, groceries and other everyday essentials has climbed. Just over 45% of U.S. households did not earn enough to cover their necessities in 2024 — and a mere $1,000 hike in the annual cost of living would leave three million households unable to make ends meet.
As lower-income households grapple with a cost-of-living crisis, there is renewed discussion over the minimum wage. Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is calling for a significant increase to the hourly minimum wage — arguing that it isn’t just good for workers, it actually makes business sense.
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“I am a believer in trickle up,” Cuban wrote in a post on X. “Where we do all we can get to get appreciable assets and higher wages into the hands of people who have to live paycheck to paycheck. I’ve said before I think raising the federal minimum wage to $20 is smart.”
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Minimum wages across the country
Minimum wage varies greatly from state to state. The federal minimum wage currently sits at $7.25 an hour, adding up to just over $15,000 a year, assuming someone is working a standard 40-hour workweek. The average national wage in 2024 was more than $69,000 a year.
The highest minimum wage in the U.S. is in the District of Columbia, where workers are paid $18.40 an hour. The lowest minimum wages are in Georgia and Wyoming, where workers can be paid as little as $5.15 an hour. That’s below the federal minimum and only applies to a handful of specific jobs exempt from national standards.
So far, there isn’t a single state that has set a standard hourly as high as Cuban is calling for.
“When I heard people who worked for a company I invested in (but didn’t run) needed government assistance, I made sure they all got raises,” Cuban continued in his X post. “It was embarrassing to me that we didn’t pay enough. I’ve made, or helped make, at least a thousand millionaires. And I’ll keep working to increase that number.”
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Cuban’s call for better pay
The Shark Tank star has been a public voice in the debate around billionaires and taxing the rich. Cuban has spoken out against the anti-rich sentiment — but agrees more needs to be done to support everyday workers.
Cuban said when a company is first starting, survival is the priority. Small businesses that are just getting their bearings may not have the resources to offer high compensation. But the billionaire said once they’ve reached success, there are real business imperatives behind supporting staff — and investing in them.
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“The less your employees stress about paying their bills, the less stress they bring to the office, to your vendors, prospects and customers,” Cuban said.
Research from the University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon University backs Cuban’s claim that higher pay improves businesses, finding that restaurants that paid employees higher saw stronger worker retention and increased revenue.
The push for higher wages
A study from the Center for Economic and Policy Research shows worker productivity has been on the rise since 1968 but wages haven’t kept pace. According to the Center, if the two had kept pace, minimum wage should have hit almost $21.50 an hour by 2020.
A group of Democratic representatives have put forth a bill aimed at gradually raising the federal minimum wage to $25 an hour. If enacted, it would require large employers to hit the target by 2031, with smaller employers reaching the goal by 2038. From there, the minimum would rise periodically to ensure it’s equal to two-thirds of the national median wage.
The federal minimum wage has not been changed since 2009.
Whether that bill is enacted or Cuban’s vision embraced, the growing divide between wages and the cost of living is likely to keep minimum wage at the center of the economic conversation.
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Rinna Diamantakos is an assigning editor at Moneywise.com. A versatile journalist, she has experience as a writer, editor and producer. Her work has focused on politics, business and financial news.
