Policy & Mop: New Minimum Wage Laws for Q1 2025 That Could Impact Your Business

What: Minimum Wage Law Changes in Q1 2025

Latest Update: Various laws leading to minimum wages increases nationwide as of this post.

Minimum wages are increasing all over like they tend to do this time of year. You need to keep ahead of it. Now I know you're not paying minimum wage, but you want to keep ahead to avoid the labor gap from narrowing in your market. Side note, but I do business in one county where the minimum wage doubled in about 5 years. This means the average labor rate was increasing by over $1/year at that time and it was definitely a challenge keeping ahead of that curve and communicating that to our clients. 

Below are wages that are set to increase on January 1, 2025, unless noted otherwise. Trust but verify. In putting together this list there were several sources that had incorrect information, including from payroll companies. Definitely double check with your local laws.

Federal Government

• Contractor Minimum Wage Increases to $17.75 per hour 

Statewide Minimum Wage Increases:

• Alaska: Increased to $11.91 per hour.

• Arizona: Increased to $14.70 per hour.

• California: Increased to $16.50 per hour.

• Colorado: Increased to $14.81 per hour.

• Connecticut: Increased to $16.35 per hour.

• Delaware: Increased to $15.00 per hour.

• Illinois: Increased to $15.00 per hour.

• Maine: Increased to $14.65 per hour.

• Michigan: Increased to $10.56 per hour, with a further rise to $12.48 scheduled for February 21, 2025.

• Minnesota: Adjusted to $11.13 per hour for all employers, eliminating the previous two-tier system.

• Missouri: Increased to $13.75 per hour.

• Montana: Increased to $10.55 per hour.

• Nebraska: Increased to $13.50 per hour.

• New Jersey: Increased to $15.49 per hour for employers with more than six employees and $14.53 for seasonal employers and those with six or fewer employees.

• New York: Increased to $16.50 per hour for New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, and to $15.50 for the rest of the state.

• Ohio: Increased to $10.70 per hour.

• Rhode Island: Increased to $15.00 per hour.

• South Dakota: Increased to $11.50 per hour.

• Vermont: Increased to $14.01 per hour.

• Virginia: Increased to $12.41 per hour.

• Washington: Increased to $16.66 per hour.

Local Minimum Wage Increases:

Washington:

• Seattle: Increased to $20.76 per hour.  

• Bellingham: Increased to $17.66 per hour.

• Tukwila: Increased to $20.10 per hour (15-500 employees)

• Burien: Set at $20.24 for businesses with 500 or more employees; $18.24 for businesses with 16 to 499 employees. And $16.66 for businesses with 20 or less.

• King County (Unincorporated Areas): Established at $20.29 for businesses with more than 500 employees worldwide; $18.29 for businesses with 16 to 499 employees or an annual gross revenue over $2 million; $17.29 for businesses with under 15 employees worldwide and an annual gross revenue under $2 million.

California:

• Belmont: Increased to $18.30 per hour.

• Burlingame: Increased to $17.43 per hour.

• Cupertino: Increased to $18.20 per hour.

• Daly City: Increased to $17.07 per hour.

• East Palo Alto: Increased to $17.45 per hour.

• El Cerrito: Increased to $18.34 per hour.

• Foster City: Increased to $17.39 per hour.

• Half Moon Bay: Increased to $17.47 per hour.

• Hayward: Set at $17.36 per hour for large employers (26 or more employees) and $16.50 for small employers (25 or fewer employees).

• Long Beach: Increased to $16.50 per hour.

• Los Altos: Increased to $18.20 per hour.

• Menlo Park: Increased to $17.10 per hour.

• Mountain View: Increased to $19.20 per hour.

• Novato: Adjusted to $17.27 per hour for very large employers (100 or more employees), $17.00 for large employers (26 to 99 employees), and $16.42 for small employers (1 to 25 employees).

• Oakland: Increased to $16.89 per hour.

• Palo Alto: Increased to $18.20 per hour.

• Petaluma: Increased to $17.97 per hour.

• Redwood City: Increased to $18.20 per hour.

• Richmond: Increased to $17.77 per hour.

• San Carlos: Increased to $17.32 per hour.

• San Diego: Increased to $17.25 per hour.

• San Francisco: Increased to $19.50 per hour.

• San Jose: Increased to $17.95 per hour.

• San Leandro: Increased to $17.00 per hour.

• San Mateo: Increased to $17.95 per hour.

• Santa Clara: Increased to $18.20 per hour.

• Santa Rosa: Increased to $17.87 per hour

• Sonoma: Increased to $18.02 per hour.

• South San Francisco: Increased to $17.70 per hour.

• Sunnyvale: Increased to $19.00 per hour.

Colorado:

• Denver: Increased to $18.81 per hour.

• Edgewater: Increase to $16.52 per hour.

• Boulder: Introduced a new minimum wage of $15.57 per hour

Maryland:

• Howard County: Increased to $16.00 per hour for businesses with 15 or more employees.

Maine:

• Portland: Increased to $15.50 per hour.

• Rockland: Increased to $15.50 per hour.

Minnesota:

• Minneapolis: Adjusted to $15.97 per hour for all employers.

Legal Mumbo Jumbo:

I'm not a lawyer and never played one on TV. Seek legal advice elsewhere. This blog series covers laws coast to coast and with the thousands of laws impacting us, our crack staff will never keep up with them. To make matters worse, the crack staff are stuck in the cracks. If you see an inaccuracy, let us know. See the Introductory post to Policy & Mop.