26 states will raise the minimum wage this year

The federal government isn’t moving on raising the minimum wage from $7.25 — but states and cities are.

The big picture: A total of 26 states are set to raise their minimum wage in 2022, according to an analysis by consulting firm Wolters Kluwer.

On top of that, 56 municipalities will bump their pay floors, for a record year of increases, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Why it matters: The battleground has largely moved from the federal level and is playing out in statehouses across the country.

At least 20 states have laws on the books preventing cities within their borders from instituting their own minimum wage hikes, Deirdre Kennedy, senior payroll analyst at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., tells Axios.

Many of those states still hold the minimum wage near the rock-bottom federal level, which hasn't moved since 2009, she adds.