Tag Archives: Minimum Wage

Feb 10 2026

Chipotle Seeks Wealthier Customer Base


Posted originally on Feb 10, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

Chipotle Mexican Grill | Trophy Club, TX

Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright publicly admitting that the company is now aiming its marketing and pricing toward households earning over $100,000 a year is a confession that fast food no longer functions the way it used to. What began as the cheap, quick alternative to a sit-down meal has mutated into something unaffordable for the very demographic it was designed to serve.

The interim CEO’s comment that the typical Chipotle customer now falls into the six-figure income bracket and that modest menu price increases are planned is nothing more than a crystallization of the inflationary pressures choking the economy and the erosion of real purchasing power among average Americans.

“What we’ve learned is the guest skews younger, a little higher income, is typically a digital native, and that their grounded purpose aligns with our North Star as a brand, around clean food, clean ingredients, high protein,” Boatwright said, per Business Insider. “We are the way they want to eat, and we’re going to lean into that in the most meaningful way.”

“We learned that 60% of our core users are over $100,000 a year in average household income,” he added. “That gives us confidence that we can lean into that group in a more meaningful way, whether it’s the solo occasion and/or group occasions to really drive meaningful transaction performance in the year.”

Chief Financial Officer Adam Rymer said that menu items will increase by 1% to 2%. Chipotle wishes to position itself as a “healthy” fast-food option for on-the-go professionals rather than a chain restaurant that is reheating frozen food to feed the masses for top profits. The meat they serve is pre-cooked before it arrives at the restaurant, and workers simply boil the pre-cooked bags. I’ll leave it to the MAHA team to determine if it is truly a healthier alternative.

I have written extensively about the fast-food industry abandoning value customers as prices, wages, and input costs soared. Fast food was invented as an affordable convenience for working-class families. But as menu prices have accelerated faster than wage growth for most workers, fast casual chains have begun to shed the low-income customer base in favor of those whose incomes have not been as hard hit by inflation and rising cost structures.

This trend is not accidental. Labor cost increases are triggered by minimum wage hikes at the state and local levels. Even proponents of minimum wage increases acknowledge that higher wages inevitably translate into higher prices, reduced hours, or both. Grocery inflation has been persistent, driven by commodity cycles, energy costs, supply chain disruptions, and climatic factors that reduce agricultural output. I have argued that food inflation would not simply disappear after the pandemic but would continue to exert upward pressure on prices as global conditions tighten.

When the CEO of a major fast-casual chain effectively says “we want wealthier customers,” he is acknowledging that the company can no longer rely on its previous customer base. Chips and burritos are no longer the inexpensive meal they once were; they have become discretionary indulgences for those insulated from inflation’s full impact. Value customers have been priced out.

Jan 6 2026

19 US States Raise Minimum Wage


Posted originally on Jan 6, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

Minimum Wage Rate by State in the U.S. [2026]

The minimum wage increased significantly in 19 U.S. states on New Year’s Day. Minimum wages are often portrayed in the mainstream press as a straightforward way to raise incomes for the lowest-paid workers, but this portrayal ignores the underlying economic mechanisms.

When the cost of labor exceeds the value the labor actually produces, companies begin to reduce labor costs. This has led to a massive shift to automation and outsourcing. Employers are often forced to reduce their workforce, and those who remain face reduced hours or increased responsibilities without commensurate pay increases.

Wages rise with productivity in a healthy economy. Currently, employers’ costs are growing faster than the value added by workers in numerous instances. Yes, the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour for nearly a decade, and nowhere in the US is that salary sustainable. Washington state now mandates roughly $17.13 per hour; California’s state minimum is nearly $17; New York’s major cities approach $17; and other states set their minimums above $15. The market or demand does not determine these set wages.

California routinely selects groups of minimum-wage workers and determines that their skill set is now worth 10 times as much. The state in general increased the minimum wage to $16.50 per hour on January 1, 2026, while certain cities have raised the minimum to $19 per hour. Yet, hotel and airline workers in Los Angeles are to receive a minimum wage of $38 per hour within the next two years. Hotels are already struggling, with only 79% of the traffic they once experienced prior to the pandemic. The city shed 11,000 hotel jobs last year, and this proposal nearly ensures more jobs will be cut. The state saw the same phenomenon when minimum wage was raised for fast food workers—employers reduced staff and raised prices for consumers.

Should a hotel maid earn more than a teacher in Los Angeles? Do the people constructing the hotel deserve less than those paid to book rooms? Does replacing towels and bed sheets, or checking a boarding pass, warrant an $80K salary? Pay grades are no longer based on skill and experience but on industry pandering. Yet another reason for companies to relocate when possible, as we saw throughout 2025 and will continue to see in 2026.

Rest assured that the government will continue to raise taxes on the lowest-paid workers. Wages rise naturally in a real economic expansion when businesses compete for workers. That is how a free market functions. But when governments artificially raise wages, businesses respond logically—by cutting jobs, reducing hours, or passing the costs onto consumers through inflation. The very people politicians claim to be helping end up worse off, as their cost of living rises and entry-level jobs disappear.