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Massachusetts: Study Commissioned by NFIB Finds $20 Minimum Wage Will Disproportionately Harm Smaller Businesses

Massachusetts: Study Commissioned by NFIB Finds $20 Minimum Wage Will Disproportionately Harm Smaller Businesses

July 18, 2023 Last Edit: June 5, 2025

Legislation proposed to drastically hike the minimum wage by 33% could lead to significant job loss, income reductions, and closures for small businesses across Massachusetts, according to a newly released economic study.

Massachusetts: Study Commissioned by NFIB Finds $20 Minimum Wage Will Disproportionately Harm Smaller Businesses

Legislation proposed to drastically hike the minimum wage by 33% could lead to significant job loss, income reductions, and closures for small businesses across Massachusetts, according to a newly released economic study. The economic impact study specifically examines Senate Bill No. 1200 and House Bill No. 1925, which were filed for the 2023-2024 Massachusetts legislative session.

<<Tell your elected officials how a $20 minimum wage would impact you HERE!>>

The study concludes that if this legislation becomes law, over the next ten years as the size of the proposed minimum wage increase grows, there is a negative employment impact of almost 23,000 jobs or 0.5% of the state’s employment base. Further, more than 13,000, or 57%, of those jobs are in small businesses. Also, by 2033, there is a negative economic output impact of over $3.4 billion, or 0.25% of the state’s economic base. Almost $1.8 billion, or 52%, of that economic output, is produced by small businesses.

NFIB commissioned this study (“Economic Impacts of a Proposed Minimum Wage Increase in Massachusetts,” May 2023) by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI), after indications that the Massachusetts Legislature will consider an extreme increase in the Commonwealth’s minimum wage, increasing the rate by 33% to $20 per hour and establishing annual, automatic hikes thereafter by the state’s Executive Office of Labor & Workforce Development.

<<Again, we need to hear YOUR voices and tell your story to lawmakers working on this legilsation. Please click HERE to share your experience!>>

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