(CNN) — The minimum wage is set to go up across nearly half of all states in the U.S. in the new year.
24 states and 48 cities and counties are raising their minimum wage — for a total of 72 jurisdictions.
That’s according to the advocacy group National Employment Law Project.
The increase goes into effect on New Year’s Day for 20 states and 26 cities and counties, mostly in California.
The rest will raise theirs later in the year.
Raising the minimum wage has been a hotly contested issue.
Earlier this year, the U.S. House passed the raise the wage act — to make $15 an hour minimum wage a federal standard, up from the current 7-25 an hour.
The bill failed in the Senate.