The short version
- Fourteen states have set a higher minimum wage for January 1, 2027. Ten got there through inflation indexing (Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Washington). Four got there through a schedule written into statute (Michigan, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Virginia).
- Two more are pending. South Dakota and Vermont index their rates every January but had not published a 2027 figure as of October 11. South Dakota's law requires publication by October 15.
- New York's indexed raise is off for January 1. A statutory "off-ramp" triggered because state employment fell. The rates stay at $17.00 downstate and $16.00 upstate unless the Legislature acts.
- The biggest jumps are Michigan ($13.73 to $15.00, up 9.2%) and Virginia ($12.77 to $13.75, up 7.7%), both scheduled by statute. The highest state rate will again be Washington's, at $17.73.
- No statewide minimum wage measure is on the November 3, 2026 ballot as far as we can find. Oklahoma voters rejected a $15 initiative in June.
Every January 1, 2027 change
Current rates are those in effect on October 11, 2026, as listed in our 2026 state-by-state guide. "Indexed" means the rate is adjusted each year by formula, usually a consumer price index (CPI). "Statute" means the legislature wrote the dollar amount into law in advance.
| State | Now | Jan 1, 2027 | Change | Type | Status and source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $17.13 | $17.73 | +$0.60 (3.5%) | CPI-indexed | Announced by the Department of Labor & Industries, Sept. 30, 2026. L&I |
| Connecticut | $16.94 | $17.48 | +$0.54 (3.2%) | Indexed (employment cost index) | Announced by the governor, Aug. 5, 2026. Office of the Governor |
| California | $16.90 | $17.40 | +$0.50 (3.0%) | CPI-indexed (capped at 3.5%) | Certified by the Department of Finance, July 31, 2026. Dept. of Industrial Relations |
| Rhode Island | $16.00 | $17.00 | +$1.00 (6.3%) | Scheduled by statute (2025 law) | Set in law. R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-12-3 |
| New Jersey | $15.92 | $16.48 | +$0.56 (3.5%) | CPI-indexed (state constitution) | Announced Sept. 29, 2026. Small and seasonal employers: $15.23 to $16.25. Farm workers: $14.20 to $15.00. NJ Dept. of Labor |
| Maine | $15.10 | $15.70 | +$0.60 (4.0%) | CPI-indexed | Announced Sept. 18, 2026. Tipped cash wage: $7.85. Maine Dept. of Labor |
| Colorado | $15.16 | $15.71 | +$0.55 (3.6%) | CPI-indexed (state constitution) | Announced Aug. 13, 2026. Tipped cash wage: $12.69. CDLE |
| Arizona | $15.15 | $15.65 | +$0.50 (3.3%) | CPI-indexed (ballot measure) | Announced by the Industrial Commission in a corrected notice, Sept. 25, 2026. Industrial Commission of Arizona |
| Nebraska | $15.00 | $15.26 | +$0.26 (1.7%) | Scheduled by statute (LB 258, 1.75% a year) | On the state's official wage poster. Nebraska Dept. of Labor |
| Michigan | $13.73 | $15.00 | +$1.27 (9.2%) | Scheduled by statute (2025 amendments) | Set in law. Tipped cash wage rises to 42% of the minimum ($6.30). Michigan LEO |
| Virginia | $12.77 | $13.75 | +$0.98 (7.7%) | Scheduled by statute (2026 HB 1 / SB 1) | Signed April 2026. $15.00 follows on Jan. 1, 2028. Virginia DOLI |
| Minnesota | $11.41 | $11.87 | +$0.46 (4.0%) | Indexed (capped at 5%) | Announced Aug. 19, 2026. 90-day youth training wage: $9.68. Minnesota DLI |
| Ohio | $11.00 | $11.40 | +$0.40 (3.6%) | CPI-indexed (state constitution) | Announced late Sept. 2026. Tipped cash wage: $5.70. Ohio Dept. of Commerce poster |
| Montana | $10.85 | $11.20 | +$0.35 (3.2%) | CPI-indexed (ballot measure) | State determination letter issued for 2027. Montana DLI |
| Vermont | $14.42 | Pending | — | CPI-indexed (capped at 5%) | Pending. Indexed, announcement expected October 2026 (last year's came Oct. 6). Vermont Dept. of Labor |
| South Dakota | $11.85 | Pending | — | CPI-indexed (ballot measure) | Pending. Indexed, announcement due by Oct. 15, 2026 under state law. SD Dept. of Labor & Regulation |
| New York | $17.00 / $16.00 | $17.00 / $16.00 | No change | Indexed, with off-ramps | Off-ramp triggered: no indexed raise on Jan. 1. Downstate / rest of state. NY Governor |
Every state not in the table holds its rate on January 1. That includes the twenty states at the federal $7.25. It also includes Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Arkansas and West Virginia, none of which index. Hawaii stays at $16.00 until its scheduled step to $18.00 on January 1, 2028. Missouri stays at $15.00, because a 2025 law repealed the inflation indexing that voters had approved to begin in 2027.
One footnote on Nebraska. Voters indexed its wage to inflation in 2022, but a 2026 law (LB 258) replaced that formula with a flat 1.75% a year. The Nebraska Examiner reported that the voter-approved formula would have produced $15.55 for 2027, 29 cents more than the rate that will apply.
New York: indexed, but frozen
New York was due to begin indexing in 2027. The law has off-ramps, though: it skips the increase if inflation is negative, if unemployment rises, or if total employment falls. The state says one of those conditions was met. So the rates stay at $17.00 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester and $16.00 elsewhere. Home care aides are the exception, rising to $20.00 and $19.00.
Governor Hochul has proposed loosening the off-ramp. If the Legislature agrees, rates would rise on March 1, 2027, to $17.60 downstate and $16.55 upstate. That is a proposal, not law, and the Legislature does not return until January. Source: New York State, "Minimum Wage for 2027" and the NYS Department of Labor.
Changes on other 2027 dates
- Alaska: rises from $14.00 to $15.00 on July 1, 2027, the last step of 2024's Ballot Measure 1. Inflation indexing follows.
- Oregon and D.C.: both index each July 1. Their 2027 rates are not yet set. Oregon usually announces in the spring.
- Florida: reached $15.00 on September 30, 2026. Its first inflation adjustment is calculated on September 30, 2027, so Florida has no January 1, 2027 change.
- Nevada: the Labor Commissioner reviews the rate each July 1. It was left at $12.00 in 2026.
Notable local increases
Dozens of cities and counties, mostly in California, Washington, Colorado and Arizona, set their own higher floors. These are the large ones whose 2027 figures we confirmed from the city's own announcement:
- Seattle: $21.30 to $22.14 on January 1 (Office of Labor Standards).
- Denver: $19.29 to $19.84 on January 1 (Denver Labor).
- Minneapolis: $16.37 to $17.02 on January 1, one rate for all employers (City of Minneapolis).
- St. Paul: $17.02 for large employers on January 1. Small employers pay $16.37 and micro employers $14.25, rising to $17.02 and $15.00 on July 1, 2027 (City of Saint Paul).
Ballot measures
We found no statewide minimum wage question on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
- Oklahoma voted on a $15 initiative, State Question 832, in a June 16 special election. It failed, roughly 55% to 45%, so the state stays at $7.25 (KGOU).
- Missouri: a proposed amendment to restore inflation indexing and paid sick leave is not among the five measures the Secretary of State certified for November (Missouri SOS). Amendment 6, which is on the ballot, would require 80% of each legislative chamber to change a voter-passed law. Missouri's indexing was repealed by that kind of legislative change in 2025.
- Alameda County, California: a $30 initiative qualified with enough signatures, but supervisors sent it to the March 2028 ballot rather than November (Pleasanton Weekly).
What indexing means, and why it matters
By our count, fourteen states plus D.C. index their minimum wage today: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington. Four more are lined up to join. Florida starts in September 2027, Alaska after its July 2027 step, Michigan in 2028 and Virginia in 2029. That would make eighteen states. Most use a version of the CPI, measured over the twelve months ending in summer. Connecticut uses the employment cost index instead. Several states cap the annual raise: California at 3.5%, and Minnesota and Vermont at 5%.
Indexing changes the politics more than the economics. A legislated floor erodes between votes. The federal $7.25 has lost about a third of its purchasing power since 2009, a story we tell in our piece on the minimum wage and inflation. An indexed floor never erodes. Whatever share of local wages it covered on the day it was set, it keeps covering, year after year, with no vote. That is the point for supporters. For skeptics in the Friedman tradition, it is the problem. A wage floor that prices some low-productivity workers out of jobs keeps doing so, and nobody has to defend it again at the ballot box.
This year's tracker shows the cracks. New York's off-ramp is an admission written into law that an automatic raise can be wrong for the labor market of the moment. Michigan has a similar trigger: no increase if unemployment reaches 8.5%. Nebraska's legislature swapped voters' CPI formula for a smaller fixed percentage. Missouri's repealed indexing altogether. None of these states abolished their floor. All of them conceded that the floor has costs. Those costs depend on local conditions, and a formula cannot see them.
A national list like this one also hides the most important variable: how high the floor sits relative to local wages. A $15.71 floor in Denver's suburbs is a different policy from $15.65 in rural Arizona. Our state-by-state guide explains that "bite ratio" and why it matters more than the headline figure.