ITHACA, N.Y. (WENY) -- As inflation continues to rise, the cost of living is on the rise too. On Wednesday morning, researchers presented the Tompkins County 2025 Living Wage and workers called upon the need for an increase in the minimum wage to meet the living wage.

According to the Tompkins County Workers' Center, close to 40% of the county's workers are not paid a living wage. As a result, many face disparities when trying to provide for their families.

Researchers, minimum wage workers, and everyday people gathered at the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union Hall in Ithaca for a presentation on the 2025 Tompkins County Living Wage. The data was collected and put together by Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

The numbers have jumped drastically since the last time it was presented in November of 2023.

"This is a big increase," said Dr. Ian Greer, a research professor with Cornell ILR. "It's a 34.5% increase over the last time we calculated this number."

Researchers from the Ithaca and Buffalo Co-Labs of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations have crunched the county's living wage numbers since 2023. This year, the living wage for single adults with no children in Tompkins County comes out to $24.82/hour compared to last year's hourly wage of $18.45.

The latest calculation is $9.32 more than the minimum wage for the majority of New York State which is $15.50.

"As always, there are big racial disparities," said Dr. Greer. "So 64.3% of black workers are making less than a living wage, 56.2% of Latinx workers, 49.9% of women. So wages are not keeping up with the cost of living is one of the takeaways of this, and another one is that the impact of this is involves really stark racial disparities and gender disparities as well."

Almost half of workers in Tompkins County make less than a living wage which equals roughly $51,000 a year. That's around 23,000 people, Dr. Greer says.

"Some of us will live our lives better off, some of us worse off than our peers, and that is both the beauty and disgrace that is living in this country," said Kavir Doty, the member experience associate for Alternatives Federal Credit Union. "But each and every one of us deserves the opportunity to try. To try to pursue that life of financial comfort we so choose."

Dr. Russell Weaver with the Buffalo Co-Lab of Cornell's ILR said nine categories are used in the calculation called basic needs. Some of those needs include rent, food, and healthcare.

Weaver added that action is necessary and members of the Tompkins County Workers' Center encouraged attendees to sign a petition for proposed legislation to make the minimum wage meet the living wage in Tompkins County.

"I've always worked hard," said Amber Garrity, a cook in Risley Hall at Cornell University. "I love my job. I have a passion for food and it will always be in my blood. But, it's manual, physical labor. It's hard work and I just wish we could get somewhere where I can reach my future goals."

For those who may not be residents of Tompkins County and would like to see their local living wage numbers, you can check out the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Living Wage Calculator here. Just plug in your state and county to see the results.