Minimum Wage Increases and Worker Protections Coming in 2025 as Worker Momentum Builds

69 Cities, Counties, and States Will Raise Minimum Wages on January 1, With 28 More Lifting Pay Later in 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. A record 88 jurisdictions—23 states and 65 cities and counties—will raise their minimum wage floors by the end of 2025, according to the latest report out today from the National Employment Law Project (NELP). In 70 of these jurisdictions (9 states and 61 cities and counties) wages will reach or exceed $15 an hour for some or all employees; in 53 jurisdictions (2 states and 51 cities and counties) the wage floor will reach or exceed $17 an hour.

On January 1, wage floors will increase in 21 states and 48 cities and counties, for a total of 69 jurisdictions. Later in the year, 5 states and 23 cities and counties will follow with additional minimum wage increases, for a total of 28 jurisdictions.

In addition to wage increases, workers have secured further protections, even in states notoriously hostile towards workers’ rights. In Arizona, voters overwhelmingly rejected the restaurant industry–backed Proposition 138, a ballot initiative that would have cut wages for tipped workers. Voters in Alaska and Missouri approved ballot initiatives that will both raise the minimum wage and enact paid sick leave policies. In Alaska—one of seven states that does not currently allow employers to subsidize their payroll costs through the use of tip credits—the victory is especially monumental for tipped workers.

“Raising wages for workers is essential to building a good-jobs economy that works for everyone. In the absence of progress at the federal level, workers and advocates are continuing to take action at the ballot box, statehouses, and in their city councils. Thanks to years-long worker-led campaigns, these victories will help workers keep up with the rising cost of living, especially Black and brown workers who are disproportionately affected by low wages and economic insecurity,” said Rebecca Dixon, president and CEO of the National Employment Law Project. “Now it’s time for Congress to deliver for workers on the federal level.”

In Michigan, a hard fought six-year campaign to boost the state wage floor and eliminate the subminimum tipped wage was victorious when the Michigan Supreme Court upheld a voter-approved initiative to raise the minimum wage and phase out the tip credit, overturning prior attempts by a Republican-led legislature to weaken these protections. As a result, Michigan became the first state in 40 years to adopt a path to “one fair wage” for tipped workers, which will benefit nearly half a million workers.

In Minnesota, recognizing the crucial need for equitable treatment for all workers, the legislature passed a bill eliminating a subminimum wage for small businesses and young workers. This bill also removed the ability of the Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner to freeze the minimum wage during economic downturns.

“These minimum wage increases are a testament to the incredible work of underpaid workers who have organized, called for fair wages, and persevered in the face of powerful interests that sought to derail them at every step over the past decade. It’s also a testament to the long legacy of the Fight for $15,” said Yannet Lathrop, senior researcher and policy analyst at NELP. “Through their demands for higher wages, workers pushed the topic of fair wages into the national conversation, and won. Even in red states, we saw conservative voters support $15 minimum wage policies, proving that economic security is a bipartisan issue that affects everyone.”

Although ultimately not approved, voters in California and Massachusetts considered ballot measures that would have raised the minimum wage by 2025 (California) and phased out the lower tipped wage by 2029 (Massachusetts). In California, the loss is mitigated by the nearly four dozen local minimum wage laws that have reached or surpassed an $18 minimum wage, or will do so in the next couple of years.

In the absence of a movement to raise the federal minimum wage, which remains stagnant at just $7.25 per hour, millions of voters nationwide took action to strengthen economic security for working people.

READ THE REPORT: Raises from Coast to Coast in 2025

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