Minimum wage increases in Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and New York took effect on January 1, and on July 1, workers in Washington, DC will be given a cost-of-living increase.
While most food retailers are already paying their store level associates more than the state minimum wage, those legislated increases are often a springboard for those employees (or the unions that they are members of) to seek higher wages, too.
Here’s the breakdown for all Mid-Atlantic states that enacted minimum wage increases on January 1: Virginia’s minimum wage was increased from $12 an hour to $17 an hour. In 2020, the state minimum wage was $7.25 an hour; Delaware increased its base wage from $13.25 to $15 an hour. In 2020, Delaware’s base employee compensation was $9.50 an hour; New Jersey, which raised its minimum wage for the seventh consecutive year, will not let employers pay their workers less than $15.49 an hour, a $0.49 hike from 2024. In 2020, the minimum wage in the Garden State was $11 an hour; and in New York (Metro area), the minimum hourly wage is now $16.50 an hour, up from $16 an hour in 2024. Five years ago, the minimum wage in the Empire State was $14 an hour.
In Washington, DC, all workers will enjoy a cost-of-living bump that will increase their base wage of $17.50 that is expected to be in the 2.5 percent range in six months. In 2020, the minimum wage for District of Columbia-based employees was $15 an hour.
Two states in the Mid-Atlantic region did not impose any minimum wage increases this year. Maryland, which raised its base hourly wage from $14 to $15 in 2024; and Pennsylvania, which has not had a boost in its state minimum wage since 2009. That number remains at $7.25 an hour, the same as the Federal minimum wage.
All told, 21 states increased their minimum wage rates on January 1. Additionally, some local jurisdictions such as Montgomery County, MD and several counties in California, Oregon and Washington have minimum wage rates higher than the state rate.
