5 States with Highest Minimum Wage and Low Cost of Living

3. Missouri

Minimum Wage: $12

Cost of Living Index: 88.3

Score: 0.1359

Missouri has one of the cheapest costs of housing in the United States. Transportation expenses also remain 12% lower than in other parts of the nation. Missouri voted for a law, according to which the wage rate increased by 85 cents each year between 2018 and 2023, because of which the wage rates rose from $7.85 per hour to the current $12 in this short span of time. Next year in 2024, the wage rate will be adjusted in proportion to the Consumers Price Index.