Montana’s minimum wage going up to $8.50 an hour in 2019

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana's minimum wage is going up 20 cents to $8.50 an hour, starting on Jan. 1.

Voters passed an initiative in 2006 that requires the state's minimum wage be adjusted annually for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers.

The Department of Labor and Industry estimates 8,200 Montanans, or 1.8 percent of the workforce, received hourly wages of less than $8.50 in 2018.