Check These Minimum Wage Updates, Effective July 1, 2025

Mid-year minimum wage changes can catch you by surprise, so it’s important to ensure that your payroll system is current.

When it comes to compliance, minimum wage is just one of many areas where you’ll find differences among states, with other areas including unemployment insurance taxable wage bases, pay transparency and child support withholding.

Minimum wage rate changes that don’t kick in January 1 typically have an effective date of July 1 — although not always.

In 2025, several states and localities are boosting their rates, as the second half of the year kicks off.

Here’s a quick summary of the rate updates that have a July 1, 2025, effective date.

Minimum Wage Changes

In Alaska, the floor for hourly wages has increased from $11.91 to $13.00. The increase is due to Ballot Measure 1, which voters approved in the 2024 general election. Heads up: That measure also included the following future increases: $14.00 on July 1, 2026, and $15.00 on July 1, 2027. Then, at the beginning of 2028, the amount will be adjusted for inflation.

In California, many localities set their own rates that exceed the state rate of $16.50 per hour, which took effect at the beginning of the year.

Locations making mid-year modifications to their hourly rates are:

• Alameda $17.46 (from $17)
• Berkeley $19.18 (from $18.67)
• Emeryville $19.90 (from $19.36)
• Fremont $17.75 (from $17.30)
• Los Angeles City $17.87 (from $17.28)
• Los Angeles County $17.87 (from $17.27)
• Milpitas $18.20 (from $17.70)
• Novato $17.27 (from $16.86)
• Pasadena $18.04 (from $17.50)
• San Francisco $19.18 (from $18.67), and
• Santa Monica $17.81 (from $17.27).

Note: Normally, Malibu would be on the list of cities making mid-year changes. However, the city council voted to suspend the scheduled increase due to the recent Palisades Fire.

In Illinois, where the state minimum wage is $15 per hour, Chicago has decided to raise its hourly rate from $16.20 to $16.60.

in Maryland, employers located in Montgomery County must pay a higher minimum wage than in the past. The rate will be $17.65 per hour (up from $17.15) for large employers; $16 per hour (up from $15.50) for mid-sized employers; and $15.50 per hour (up from $15) for small employers. Meanwhile, the state’s minimum wage is $15 per hour.

In Minnesota, the base hourly rate is $11.13, but in Saint Paul it’s higher than that. Starting July 1, 2025, for businesses with five or fewer employees, the rate is $13.25 per hour (was $12.25). For businesses with six to 100 employees, it’s $15.00 per hour (was $14). For larger businesses, the rate will remain $15.97 per hour. The last increase occurred at the beginning of 2025, and the next one is scheduled for January 1, 2026.

In Oregon, a new minimum wage rate kicked in July 1, 2025. Employers subject to the standard minimum wage rate must pay $15.05 per hour (up from $14.70). In nonurban counties, the new hourly rate will be $14.05 (now $13.70). As for the Portland Metro Area, the hourly minimum wage rate is set for $16.30 (currently $15.95).

In Washington, two cities have raised their minimum wage rates in the middle of the year — and the rates are higher than the state’s required rate of $16.66 per hour.

• One city is Renton, where mid-size employers will need to pay $19.90 per hour (up from $18.90). Note: For larger employers, the rate will remain $20.90 per hour.
• The other city is Tukwila. There, large employers began paying at least $21.10 per hour on January 1, 2025, and mid-size employers paid only $20.10 per hour. As of July 1, 2025, the mid-size employer rate got bumped up to the large employer rate.