I find it odd to not talk about the effects of minimum wage compared to cost of living in the area. I am from Indiana. It is common for people to take paycuts when they move to the area - the basis being that in most of the places, the cost of living is quite a bit lower (metro areas, especially chicago, aside). Many places have headquarters in mid-sized hub towns of 40-60k people. Sometimes people are quite happy because it lets them live pretty comfortably at the top without costing as much money. Moving to a coast for a payraise and then moving back can grant an overall lifestyle and payraise.<p>Yet minimum wage is the same in the midwest as it is other places, sometimes lower. Most of the available jobs are in the minimum - $13&#x2F;hr zone. Had it not been for federal regulation, I speculate it would have stayed around the $5&#x2F;hour zone. When minimum wage rises in Indiana, only those legally affected tend to get a raise. We get told that it theoretically isn&#x27;t supposed to work that way. It really has lessened the gap between workers and management because they don&#x27;t tend to get any raises, unless they are lucky enough to get a cost of living or performance raise each year.