The wage gap threatens to drain talent from Maryland and Virginia as workers commute into the District. For some workers in the DMV, a 15-minute Metro ride could dictate whether they earn the nation's highest minimum wage or thousands of dollars less per year. By the numbers:Washington, D.C., boasts a minimum wage of $18.40 per hour, the highest state-level minimum wage in the United States, as of July this year. Federal baselineBig picture view:The federal minimum wage currently sits at $7.25 an hour, a rate that Congress has not increased since July 2009. A worker earning D.C.'s $18.40 minimum is making over two and a half times the federal baseline.