It's the market at work. Because It's an oil town and cost of living is so high, they need to pay a higher wage. That's the key. If you could take that money

It's the market at work. Because It's an oil town and cost of living is so high, they need to pay a higher wage. That's the key. If you could take that money and spend it in another state, it could go much further. I would imagine the cost of living expenses in that town make it so $17/hour is equivalent to roughly minimum wage in other parts of the country. A higher minimum wage sounds like a great fix, but it's only a great fix until the rest of the economy catches up to the increased prices by raising their prices accordingly. At that point, your dollar goes about as far as it did before the increase. Australia is a good example of this. I stayed at a hostel when I visited for a week and there were signs up for unskilled day labor work that paid $18/hour. The hostel also cost me almost $100/night US and most meals..even at the cheapest of the cheap places were over $20/person. A soda and a small bag of chips at 7-11 was over $11. The same thing costs me a little more than $4 in the US.