Welcome to the Hub City, where the wind blows at 40 mph and the wages haven’t moved since the era of the Razr flip phone. While other states are flirting with $17 an hour—actual money you can, you know, buy things with—Texas remains proudly wedded to the federal floor of $7.25. It’s a vintage rate for a vintage state, ensuring that if you work a full eight-hour shift, you might actually be able to afford a decent steak… as long as you don’t plan on paying rent or electricity this month.
The argument for keeping us in the financial basement is the usual “but my Big Mac will cost more” defense. Sure, a burger in California costs more, but when the guy flipping it is making nearly $10 more per hour than the guy in Lubbock, he can probably afford the price hike. Meanwhile, we’re out here acting like a 25-cent increase would trigger an immediate economic apocalypse and cause the Buddy Holly Statue to start weeping.
We aren’t asking for the moon; we’re just asking for Texas to stop “dragging the bottom” like a rusty anchor in a dried-up playa lake. It’s hard to foster “workplace pride” and “employee engagement” when your hourly rate is roughly equivalent to two gallons of gas and a prayer. Many businesses have already realized that paying the bare minimum gets you the bare minimum effort, but the state seems content to keep the “Help Wanted” signs as a permanent part of our local decor.
At the end of the day, we’re told this is about “valuing work.” Apparently, we value it so much we want to make sure you have to work three jobs just to see a triple-digit balance in your checking account. But hey, at least the view from the top of the Metro Tower is still free—mostly because nobody working for $7.25 could ever afford the elevator ride if they charged for it.
If $7.25 is “the best Texas can do,” does that mean we’ve officially peaked, or are we just waiting for inflation to turn our currency into actual colorful play money?