Key Points:

• Minimum wages will increase in 22 states next year
• 18 states will have a minimum wage of $15 an hour or higher
• Employers in 43 states are exempt from paying tipped workers a minimum wage

Minimum wages will increase in 22 states next year, with 19 states hiking them on Jan. 1. Minimum wages are also rising in Washington, D.C., and dozens of other cities and counties that set their own wage floors. 

The minimum wage next year will meet or exceed $15 an hour in 18 mostly Democratic-led states, more than double the $7.25 federal minimum that applies in 20 mostly Republican-led states. 

Supporters of minimum wage hikes say the increases help ensure low-wage workers earn a living wage. That’s the argument Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee made when he signed a bill this year that will raise his state’s wage floor to $17 by 2027. 

“Hard work should be met with fair pay,” the Democrat said in a statement at the time. “By raising minimum wage over the next two years, we are sending a clear message that our commitment to hard-working Rhode Islanders has never been stronger.” 

Opponents say government-mandated wage floors lead to layoffs, and the free market should determine pay.

The Rhode Island Business Coalition, a group that advocates for business interests, opposed raising the minimum wage in the state. Coalition member groups said the planned increases would force businesses to shed workers or reduce employees’ hours.

Voters in some states may next year consider further minimum wage increases.

An Oklahoma ballot measure next summer will ask voters to raise the state wage floor to $15 an hour by 2029. And progressive groups in Maryland are reportedly preparing a measure that would raise the wage floor to $25 an hour, including for workers who earn tips. 

The minimum wage will jump over 6% next year in seven states: Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Nebraska, Michigan, Missouri and Rhode Island, according to a Pluribus News analysis of state minimum wage data.

Smaller jumps of 2%–4% will occur in 14 states. Oregon’s 2026 regional minimum wage rates have not yet been announced but will be adjusted for inflation.

Washington will set a $17.13 minimum wage in 2026, the highest in the nation. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Rhode Island and New York will set wage floors at $16 an hour or higher for most employers. 

The federal $7.25 minimum wage will continue to apply in 20 states. Congress has not raised the federal minimum wage in 16 years. 

In 2024, 842,000 U.S. workers over age 16 earned hourly wages at or below the federal minimum, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s 1% of hourly paid workers nationwide. 

About two-thirds of all workers who earned at or below the federal minimum wage in 2024 worked in restaurants or had other food service jobs, according to the BLS. 

Employers in 43 states do not have to pay tipped workers a minimum wage if those workers’ pay and tips combined equal or exceed the statewide wage floor. 

Only Alaska, California, Minnesota, Nevada and Washington require employers to pay all workers the base minimum wage, according to the Labor Department. Montana requires businesses with gross annual sales over $110,000 to pay all workers the base minimum wage.