WASHINGTON — In addition to a new calendar on the wall, Jan. 1 will bring a raise for Oregon workers earning minimum wage. Thanks to a provision in state law that requires annual adjustments due to inflation, Oregon’s minimum wage will increase from $9.10 an hour to $9.25 an hour.

Oregon is one of 28 states whose minimum wage will be higher than the federal rate of $7.25 an hour as of Jan. 1. While some states, including Connecticut and Vermont, have passed laws that would eventually raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, currently only Washington state has a higher minimum wage than Oregon at $9.47 an hour.

Oregon’s increase means an extra $312 a year, or $26 a month, for minimum-wage workers, according to the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

“Though the 15-cent increase will help, the minimum wage remains too low for working families to make ends meet,” said Tyler Mac Innis, a policy analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy, in a prepared statement. “A parent who works full time should be able to cover his or her family’s basic needs.”

Seven out of 10 Oregon families living in poverty in 2013 had at least one parent who worked, according to the OCPP, and one in five families with children had at least one parent who worked full time.

Almost 142,000 workers in Oregon will be affected by the wage increase, according to the state Bureau of Labor and Industries.

Every year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition produces a report that examines how much a renter must earn in each state to pay the fair market rent without spending more than 30 percent of his or her income on housing. In 2014, Oregon’s fair market rent was $846 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to the NLIHC, which meant that someone earning the minimum wage of $9.10 had to work 72 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, in order to afford housing.

Using last year’s fair market rent and 2015 wages, a minimum wage earner would still have to work 70.4 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, to avoid spending more than 30 percent of his or her income on housing.

—  Reporter: 202-662-7456, aclevenger@bendbulletin.com