BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to raise the state's minimum wage from $8 an hour to $11 an hour over three years, giving a boost to nearly 600,000 workers and putting the state on track for the highest such pay in the nation.

The Senate voted 32-7 to approve the increase.

Under the bill, amended during debate, the minimum wage would increase to $9 an hour on July 1, $10 an hour on July 1, 2015, and $11 an hour starting July 1, 2016. The minimum wage in Massachusetts last increased to $8 an hour in January 2008.

In the shadow of a looming 2014 ballot question on the minimum wage, the Senate also voted 31-7 to increase the wage for tipped employees to half the minimum wage. The tipped wage is currently $2.63 per hour.

One supporter, Sen. Mark C. Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat, said the bill might help close the growing gap between the rich and poor.

"Tens of thousands of people are working full time and living below the poverty level," Montigny said. "It is inexcusable."

The bill now moves to the state House of Representatives, which is unlikely to vote on a minimum wage bill until sometime next year.

The bill for the first time would index the state's minimum wage to inflation. Starting in 2016, the minimum wage would rise each year at the same rate as the consumer price index for the Northeast.

Supporters have said the increase is needed because some companies are making strong profits, but lower wage workers are falling behind.

Opponents, including some business leaders, said that an increase would hike costs for businesses and could prompt layoffs.

Jon B. Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said the association strongly opposed the Senate bill. Hurst said the bill goes too far in giving Massachusetts the highest minimum wage in the country.

Hurst said the bill would increase costs for employers, make employers less competitive and eliminate some jobs including those held by teenagers.

"We've got to be somewhat in line with what competitors are doing," said Hurst.

Rhode Island increased its minimum wage to $8 starting Jan. 1, while Connecticut and New York are raising their wages to $9 on Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2015, respectively.

States cannot approve a minimum wage that is lower than the federal standard, currently $7.25 per hour, but they can approve a higher one. Washington state has the highest state minimum wage at $9.19; followed by Oregon, $8.95, and Vermont, $8.60.

According to California's new law, the state minimum wage would increase from $8 an hour to $9 an hour on July 1, 2014, and then increase to $10 an hour on Jan. 1 2016.

Approval of the bill comes as advocates said they have collected enough signatures to place a statewide question on the ballot next year to bring the minimum wage to $10.50 in January 2016. Tipped wages would climb to 60 percent of the minimum wage under the ballot question.

According to a study by the nonpartisan Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center in Boston, 17,800 workers in Springfield would be affected if the minimum wage goes to $10.50 an hour, with 14,600 workers currently receiving less than $10.50 an hour and 3,200 earning just above that.

Statewide, if the wage rises to $10.50, 495,000 workers would be affected, including 440,000 because they earn less than that.