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The current livable wage for a single adult in Butler County is about $16.24 per hour — compared to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour — according to an annual review by MIT’s Living Wage Calculator.

And Stephen Herzenberg, economist and executive director for the Keystone Research Center, said the MIT report isn’t alone in its findings for the county, which could see minimum wage increase to $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2026, if proposed legislation gains approval of the state Senate and Gov. Josh Shapiro.

The bill was passed by the state House of Representatives on June 20 and has since been awaiting a Senate decision.

“There’s nothing mysterious about the MIT methodology; it’s the same as everyone else’s methodology,” Herzenberg said. “Whether it’s the Economic Policy Institute or the Self-Sufficiency Report that gets done periodically by a group called Pathways PA in Pennsylvania, or … United Way did a report at one point called an ALICE Report — they’re all the same.”

All estimated a livable wage to be at least double what it is now.

The Economic Policy Institute’s 2022 Family Budget Calculator estimated a livable wage of $17.53 per hour in the county. Pathways PA’s 2019 report estimated $10.84, while United Way of Pennsylvania’s 2021 ALICE Report recommended $14.74.