The extent of the damage can be seen in a study commissioned last December for the Iowa Department of Education. According to the NCHEMS study, Iowans with two-year college degrees, and in some cases even high school graduates, can find higher paying jobs just across the border in adjacent states. Iowa’s minimum wage is several steps removed from that matrix. Nonetheless, Iowa is one of fifteen states with a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The NCHEMS study shows that wages in Iowa are particularly bad at both ends of the life spectrum – for people who work in pre-school daycare and in nursing homes.