But opponents of raising the minimum wage can also point to evidence here of negative, or uneven, consequences. When wages go up, they say, prices do as well. And a question resonates here no matter what side you are on: Can any region dependent on the minimum wage ever fully prosper?

Todd Heinz, who owns three coffee shops called Jolts and Juice with his wife, Vicki — two on the Oregon side, one in Idaho — likened the result to a treadmill when Oregon’s wage went up Jan. 1 by 15 cents under an automatic system linked to the cost of living. (Oregon is one of 10 states that link their minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index.) After raising the pay for his 24 employees, he raised the prices for coffee, smoothies and beer to compensate.

“It feels like a wash,” he said. “It is not the consumer that wins, because most businesses will pass their increase on to the consumer through higher prices. The business doesn’t win, because they are forced to increase their prices to maintain proper margins to keep their doors open, thus affecting current customers and the potential of loss of new business. The employee doesn’t win, because they are the consumer.”

States are allowed to mandate minimum wages higher than the federal rate, and 21 have done just that. (Oregon’s wage has been higher than the federal minimum since the early 1990s.) Twenty states have kept to the federal standard, including Idaho, which has the highest percentage among all states of hourly workers earning the minimum wage or less, according to federal figures.