Appendix: Howard County Minimum Wage

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Appendix: Detailed Impact Estimates

Howard County, MD, 2026 Minimum Wage Impacts by Selected Worker Characteristics
			Workers Experiencing Wage Increase			2026 Wage Increase (2020 $)
		Total Workers	Total	% of Group	Group % of Total	Total	Average Annual
	Total	161,000	40,000	25%	100%	$43 million	$1,070

Gender	Men	87,800	18,300	21%	46%	$20 million	$1,110
	Women	73,200	21,700	30%	54%	$22 million	$1,040

Age	16 to 24	22,900	14,200	62%	36%	$16 million	$1,160
	25 to 39	54,700	13,400	24%	34%	$14 million	$1,040
	40 to 54	52,800	7,000	13%	18%	$6 million	$870
	55 or older	30,600	5,500	18%	14%	$5 million	$850

	Under 20	7,400	5,000	68%	13%	$4 million	$750
	20 or older	153,600	35,000	23%	88%	$38 million	$1,100

Race / Ethnicity	White	91,200	15,100	17%	38%	$14 million	$940
	Black	34,400	11,400	33%	29%	$14 million	$1,250
	Latinx	15,000	7,700	51%	19%	$8 million	$1,070
	Asian/Pacific Islander	15,500	3,800	25%	10%	$3 million	$670
	All others	5,000	2,100	42%	5%	$2 million	$810

	Workers of color	69,800	24,900	36%	62%	$29 million	$1,150

Family Status	Married parents	45,200	6,700	15%	17%	$6 million	$870
	Single parents	10,700	3,500	33%	9%	$4 million	$1,090
	Married, no children	44,000	7,100	16%	18%	$7 million	$980
	Unmarried, no children	61,100	22,700	37%	57%	$26 million	$1,130

	Parents	53,800	8,700	16%	22%	$9 million	$1,010

Full Time / Part Time Status	Part time	14,600	7,900	54%	20%	$4 million	$560
	Mid time	18,600	9,100	49%	23%	$8 million	$880
	Full time	127,900	23,000	18%	58%	$29 million	$1,260

Education	Less than high school	10,000	5,900	59%	15%	$6 million	$1,100
	High school	32,200	14,400	45%	36%	$16 million	$1,100
	Some college, no degree	32,400	12,100	37%	30%	$12 million	$970
	Associates degree	10,900	3,000	28%	8%	$3 million	$940
	Bachelors degree or higher	75,600	4,600	6%	12%	$3 million	$690

	College graduates	86,500	7,600	9%	19%	6,008,000	$790

Family Income	Less than $25,000	9,500	7,100	75%	18%	$9 million	$1,330
	$25,000 to $49,999	18,500	8,400	45%	21%	$9 million	$1,030
	$50,000 to $74,999	22,300	6,300	28%	16%	$6 million	$1,000
	$75,000 to $99,999	21,300	5,100	24%	13%	$5 million	$1,060
	$100,000 to $149,999	32,600	5,700	17%	14%	$6 million	$1,040
	$150,000 or more	56,500	7,100	13%	18%	$7 million	$970
Source: Economic Policy Institute Minimum Wage Simulation Model; see Technical Methodology by Dave Cooper, Zane Mokhiber, and Ben Zipperer. https://www.epi.org/publication/minimum-wage-simulation-model-technical-methodology/ Notes: Census surveys currently require respondents to identify themselves as either male or female, precluding impact estimates for workers of other gender identities. All racial groups exclude Latinx workers. Latinx workers may belong to any racial group. “All others” includes American Indian/Alaska Native workers, multiracial workers, and workers belonging to racial groups not specified in census data. Small sample size precludes reporting impacts for these groups individually. Part-time workers are those who usually work less than 20 hours per week. Mid-time workers usually work 20 to 34 hours per week. Full-time workers are those who usually work 35 or more hours per week. All dollar figures are in 2020 dollars. For groups in italics, small sample size prevents reliable estimation of wage impacts for restaurant workers. Reported wage impacts for these groups are based on non-restaurant workers only and therefore underestimate true impacts.