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A pedestrian walks by a McDonald's restaurant on January 30, 2018 in San Francisco, California.
San Francisco has raised its minimum wage from $14 to $15 an hour, largely as a response to out-of-control housing prices. The law went into effect on on July 1.
An hourly wage of $15 is more than twice the federal rate of $7.25, but it's still not enough to live in San Francisco comfortably, according to an SFGate analysis of data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. With a minimum-wage job, the numbers suggest, San Franciscans still need to work 160 hours per week to rent a two-bedroom home.
Minimum wage levels differ by city, but many activist groups in other metros are pushing for their own bumps to $15 per hour.
The Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think-tank, has compiled a list of minimum wages in cities across the US. In some areas, workers who receive tips can make as little as $2.13 an hour.
Many cities follow state or federal minimum wage standards - even though the cost of living tends to be higher in urban areas than the rest of the state or country. In a process called indexing, some metros will soon begin adjusting minimum wage levels annually to account for inflation (based on the state or metro area's Consumer Price Index). Just six states currently have mandatory indexed increases, though several more have legislation in the works.
Take a look below at the minimum wage in 13 major US cities - the list is ordered based on each city's median rental cost for all housing types.