Warren County is accustomed to out-of-state competition for things from tax rates and fuel prices, to customers and employees.

The minimum wage in New York state will soon be nearly twice the rate in Pennsylvania.

In New York, the rate for non-exempt workers is going up to $14.20 effective Dec. 31, 2022. It will continue rising until it reaches $15 per hour, according to the Minimum Wage Act.

In Pennsylvania, the minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour. The state last changed that rate in 2008, when a 10-cent increase was applied to the previous $7.15 rate.

The state’s minimum matches the federal minimum.

There was a change to Pennsylvania’s minimum wage law this year that impacts tipped workers.

The threshold at which a tipped worker’s employer may lower their hourly wage went up from $30 per month to $135 per month.

Other changes have been proposed, but not approved.

In Warren County, which has higher-minimum neighbors to the north, businesses have had to adjust, according to the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry.

Director of Chamber Operations John Papalia surveyed numerous employers in the county, receiving 10 responses.

“The consensus was, the New York wage increase won’t have much of a large impact on many of our employers,” Papalia said. “Businesses have been paying competitively and above the minimum.”

“There is work in Warren at competitive rates,” he said. “Wages have increased over the last couple of years to stay competitive with the market and attract workers to businesses.”

Businesses that do start at or around the minimum were not among those who responded, Papalia said.

Those employers may see some drain as workers head north with the promise of greener paychecks.

And, while some employees are undoubtedly looking north, there is no similar automatic incentive for those living in New York to look south of the border.

Papalia suggested that businesses have had to find ways to make seasonal and part-time jobs more attractive as wages go up in New York.

In Pennsylvania, the hourly pay of tipped workers can be reduced to as low as $2.83 per hour, but they must still make at least $7.25 an hour.

In New York, food service workers who receive tips may not be paid a base wage of less than $8.80. That change took effect this year. Tipped workers in other industries must currently be paid at least $11.00 per hour.