Tomorrow morning, hourly workers in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. get a raise, whether or not their employers get around to announcing it. A shift that starts tonight and runs past midnight even splits the difference: hours worked after 12:01 a.m. on July 1 are paid at the new rate.
July 1 is the second-biggest date on the minimum wage calendar after January 1, because a handful of states and a longer list of cities tie their annual inflation adjustments to the fiscal-year calendar. Here is who gets a raise this week, what the new numbers are, and what to do if your paycheck does not reflect them.
The three statewide increases
Alaska goes from $13.00 to $14.00 an hour, the second of three one-dollar steps voters approved in 2024’s Ballot Measure 1. The state labor department’s announcement of the July 1 increase notes the schedule tops out at $15.00 on July 1, 2027, after which the rate returns to annual inflation adjustments. Alaska is also unusual in a worker-friendly way: tip credits are not allowed, so tipped workers get the full minimum before tips.
Oregon raises all three of its regional rates by 50 cents. According to the Bureau of Labor and Industries rate schedule, the standard rate becomes $15.55, the Portland metro rate $16.80, and the non-urban county rate $14.55. Which one applies depends on where you work, not where you live, and Oregon, like Alaska, does not permit tip credits.
Washington, D.C. moves from $17.95 to $18.40 an hour, among the highest minimums in the country, per the Department of Employment Services notice. The District’s base wage for tipped workers rises to $10.30, and if tips do not bring a worker up to the full $18.40 average, the employer must pay the difference.
The big-city increases
Chicago raises its minimum to $17.05 an hour for employers with four or more employees, up from $16.60, with the tipped minimum rising to $12.96, according to the city’s announcement. Chicago caps its annual inflation adjustment at 2.5 percent, which is why the increase is 45 cents rather than something larger…