The push to raise the minimum wage in Chicago is picking up momentum, thanks to Mayor Emanuel’s proposal to hike the rate from $8.25 to $13 an hour by 2018. Before they vote, aldermen are likely to wait and see how Illinois residents weigh in on November 4 on a nonbinding referendum to up the state’s minimum wage to $10 an hour. Here’s a breakdown of who would be affected by these hikes, statewide and locally, and what the increases would mean.

400,000

Number of Illinois workers who
make minimum wage

That is 6.7% of the state workforce

Chicagoans who earn less than $13 an hour

78%

of Chicagoans approve raising the state’s minimum wage to $10.

58%

of all Illinois residents approve.

Minimum wage across the United States
(and what it could be by 2018)

How long you must work to afford a monthly CTA pass

… at $8.25 an hour

12 hours and 15 minutes

… and at $13 an hour.

7 hours and 34 minutes

How annual pay at minimum wage stacks up against other earnings in town