In 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul declared in the FY 2024 Budget that New York would annually increase minimum wage through 2026. This means that come January 1, 2025, New Yorkers will see yet another increase to minimum wage.
Minimum wage will be increasing by $0.50, bringing New York State’s minimum wage to $15.50 and NYC, Long Island and Westchester County’s minimum wage to $16.50. Moreover, residents can expect another $0.50 increase in 2026, before New York State’s minimum wage will index to inflation starting in 2027.
Last year’s increase brought the state’s minimum wage for NYC workers up $1 to a total of $16/hour from the 2022 rate of $15/hour.
Every working New Yorker is entitled to make at least the hourly minimum wage rate, including tipped workers, nail salon workers, fast food workers and more.
New Yorkers who don’t see the increase in their paychecks are encouraged to file a wage complaint with the New York State Department of Labor. You can contact them through their website or by calling 833-910-4378.
The first minimum wage established in New York State was just $1/hour in 1960. It wasn’t until 2000 that New York State’s minimum wage surpassed $5/hour. Furthermore, minimum wage increases weren’t determined by employment location, industry, and number of employees (NYC only) until 2016. This means that NYC workers were under the same minimum wage rules as any other workers in the state of New York.
Today, NYC still isn’t the highest earning minimum wage city in the country. That title goes to Tukwila, WA with the highest minimum wage of all U.S. cities at $20.29/hour for large businesses.
You can learn more about New York State’s minimum wage laws online. Plus, you can look up what you should be making by using the state’s Minimum Wage Lookup Tool.