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IKEA, Gap, and eight more companies that pay higher than minimum wage

Ikea and Gap recently raised their worker wages to well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. But what other companies pay well for entry-level, low-skill work? These 10 offer wages above the federal minimum. Can you guess which company pays best? 

Mark Lennihan/AP/File
Ikea signage at New York City's first Ikea store, in Brooklyn. Ikea on Thursday, June 26, 2014 plans to announce its U.S. division is raising the minimum wage for thousands of its retail workers, pegging it to the cost of living in each location, instead of its competition.

10. Gap

Jae C. Hong/AP/File
A shopper walks down the steps at a Gap store in Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2013. Gap Inc. has announced plans to raise the minimum hourly wage to $9 by the end of this year and $10 by the end of next year.

Minimum hourly wage: $10

Gap Inc. announced in February it would be upping its minimum hourly pay to $9. In 2015, Gap will be raising the minimum hourly pay again to $10 next year. The move affects the 65,000 employees of Gap, Banana Republic, Piperlime, Athleta and Intermix, which are all owned by Gap Inc.

When the clothing company announced the raise, President Obama, who has pushed for a federal minimum hourly wage to be raised from $7.25 to $10.10, released a statement applauding the move and said, "It’s time to... give America a raise." 

Increased worker wages are gaining support from both politicians and private businesses. McDonald's CEO Don Thompson has said the company would back any legislation that raises the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. 

Some cities and states around the US are already raising their minimum wage. In June, the Seattle City Council recently passed a plan to increase minimum wage in the city to $15 an hour. Massachusetts is proposing an increase to $11 per hour, which would give it the highest state minimum wage in the country. 

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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