This year and the following, Florida minimum wage workers will increase their wages to $15 per hour.
The 2020 amendment that raised wages gradually—from $8.65 to $10 in 2021 and then by another dollar annually until they reach $15 per hour for non-tipped employees and $10.98 for tipped employees—is responsible for this.
It’s a component of the expanding minimum wage movement. January 1, 2025. According to a report exclusively given to USA TODAY by the worker advocacy group National Employment Law Project, 21 states and 48 towns and counties increased theirs. Later this year, a few additional counties, towns, and states will raise their minimum. Since 2009, $7.25 per hour has been the federal minimum wage.
When is the Next Minimum Wage Increase in Florida?
The minimum wage in Florida will increase to $10.98 for tipped employees and $14 for non-tipped employees per hour. On September 30, 2025, and again in 2026, the minimum wage rates for tipped and non-tipped workers will increase.
Which States have the Highest Minimum Wage?
In recent years, several states have raised the minimum wage. The U.S. Department of Labor states that the following are now the highest minimum salaries in the nation:
- Hourly wage in Washington, D.C.: $17.50
- Oregon: $16.50 per hour
- State of Washington: $16.66 per hour
- $16.35 in Connecticut
- New York: $16.50 per hour (New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Westchester County)
- Ohio: $15.49 per hour
- $15 per hour in Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, the remainder of New York, and Rhode Island
Since all states must pay a minimum wage for occupations covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, 14 states pay the federal minimum rate of $7.25. Some charge more for companies that fulfill specific requirements.
Businesses in Georgia and Wyoming pay $5.15 per hour, albeit in Georgia, this only applies to companies with six or more workers. Businesses in Montana that make less than $110,000 in gross yearly sales are paid $4 per hour.
No state minimum wage laws exist in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, or Tennessee. Employers in King County with 500 or more employees must pay a minimum wage of $21.16 in Burien, Washington.
Where employees are receiving raises:23 states plan to raise the minimum wage next year as demand for $15 per hour and higher increases.
The amendment aimed to bring minimum salaries closer to the current cost of living. The state will revert to the earlier approach of computing cost-of-living increases according to the Consumer Price Index once it hits $15.
A livable wage, on the other hand, aims to determine how much an individual must make per hour to pay for the essentials of life, such as housing, daycare, healthcare, food, etc.
The living wage in Florida is $22.43 per hour for an adult without children, $37.27 for an adult with one kid, $45.36 for an adult with two children, and $58.76 for an adult with three children, according to the (MIT) living wage calculator from February 2024.
Employers of tipped workers are required to pay their workers the minimum wage, but they are permitted to deduct gratuities up to $3.02, the 2003 Fair Labor Standards Act tip credit, from that amount. Therefore, the minimum wage of less than $3.02 is the direct wage they must pay.
The tipped minimum pay in Florida is $9.98, which equals the state’s current minimum wage of $13 per hour. They will increase by one dollar each until they reach $15 per hour for non-tipped employees and $11.98 for tipped employees.
Are all Employers Subject to Florida’s Minimum Wage Laws?
No, the Department of Labor has permitted exemptions to the federal minimum wage rule for specific professions and circumstances, which may result in lower wages for workers. These consist of, among other things:
- Professional, administrative, and executive staff
- Salespeople on commission
- Farm laborers
- Workers at seasonal or leisure establishments
- People who deliver newspapers
- Federal criminal investigators
- Unofficial employees like babysitters
- Children in specific situations
- Student employees
- workers with disabilities provided the business possesses a Department of Labor certificate permitting it (a move to encourage more firms to recruit individuals with impairments).
- Educational or nonprofit institutions that have requested an exemption, among others.
- Workers for businesses with yearly gross incomes under $50,000.
What was Florida’s Previous Minimum Wage?
Florida’s minimum wage was linked to the federal minimum wage established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 through the (FLSA), which prohibited forced child labor, set a minimum hourly salary of 25 cents, and limited the maximum workweek to 44 hours. However, Amendment 5, which set a state minimum wage higher than the federal minimum, was adopted by Florida voters in 2005. Since then, Florida’s minimum wage has been higher than the federal minimum.
In addition to requiring the Department of Economic Opportunity to determine an adjusted state minimum wage rate based on the rate of inflation for the 12 months before September 1 based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners, Amendment 5 raised the hourly wage for non-tipped employees to $6.15, which was one dollar higher than the federal minimum at the time. New changes were scheduled for January 1st of the following year.
Since then, there have been many increases:
- Increased to $6.15 per hour in 2005
- Increased to $6.40 per hour in 2006
- Increased to $7.21 per hour in 2009
- Increased to $7.25 per hour in 2010
- 2016: Increased to $8.05 per hour after six years
- Increased to $8.10 per hour in 2017
- Increased to $8.25 per hour in 2018
- Increased to $8.45 per hour in 2019
- 2021: Increased to $10 per hour to comply with the 2020 amendment’s criteria
- Increased to $11 per hour in 2022
- Increased to $12 per hour in 2023
- Increased to $13 per hour in 2024
