New York will see an increase to the state’s minimum wage in 2025

After the minimum wage in New York rose in 2024, the state is preparing to increase it again in 2025, which will make the state home to one of the highest minimum wages in the country.

New York is one of 30 states in the country that has wages above the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. The last increase occurred on January 1, 2024, when the minimum wage rose to $15 per hour, slightly higher in some areas of the state.

In addition, New York City and other parts of the state will also raise their minimum wage.

How much will the minimum wage in New York increase?

Currently, New York State has two different minimum wages: one for New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, and another for the rest of the state. Both will rise in 2025.

The minimum wage in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County is $16 per hour, while it is $15 per hour in the rest of the state.

Beginning January 1, 2025, the minimum wage in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County will rise to $16.50 per hour. Elsewhere in New York State, it will rise to $15.50, one of the highest in the country.

New York’s minimum wage will continue to increase

The increase scheduled for 2025 will not be the only one. In 2023, the office of New York Governor Kathy Hochul reported that the minimum wage would automatically increase by 50 additional cents starting January 1, 2026.

Thus, by 2026, the minimum wage in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County will rise to $17 an hour. The rest of the state will see the wage rise to $16 per hour, more than double the federal minimum wage.

The good news for workers is that minimum wage increases will continue. Starting in 2027, the minimum wage increases will be calculated based on inflation so as not to affect employees’ purchasing power, based explicitly on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Northeast region.