FL Minimum Wage Increases To $15: What Workers Should Know

Some Florida employees can expect a boost to their paychecks after the state’s minimum wage increased to $15 an hour on Wednesday.

Tipped employees in Florida will also see their base wage increase from $10.98 to $11.98 per hour.

According to the Florida Policy Institute, more than 1.2 million Floridians were earning less than $15 an hour prior to Wednesday’s minimum wage increase.

In 2020, Florida residents voted to approve Amendment 2, which called for the gradual increase of the state’s minimum wage each year until it reached $15 an hour, which will happen next year, according to a 2023 memo from the Florida Department of Commerce.

The federal minimum wage has been set at $7.25 an hour since 2009.

This Florida constitutional amendment was spearheaded by Orlando lawyer John Morgan, who recently launched a new political party, The Common Ground Party.

Since its passage, the state's minimum wage has been adjusted annually by $1, the most recent on Sept. 30, when it jumped from $14 to $15 an hour.

The first minimum wage increase under this new law came Sept. 30, 2021, when it increased to $10 an hour.

Wednesday’s additional dollar is the final minimum wage increase in compliance with Amendment 2’s passage.

Florida joins Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Missouri and Nebraska as states reaching at least a $15 minimum wage for the first time this year.

Twenty-one states, plus Washington, D.C., already have a minimum wage of $15 or higher, or are phasing in scheduled increases to $15 or higher.

Washington state has the highest current state minimum wage at $17.13 as of Jan. 1.

Florida employers and business professionals have mixed feelings about the minimum wage increase.

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“We’re excited to see the minimum wage increase to $15 an hour that small businesses and voters supported. Keeping money flowing throughout our community, as workers have more income to spend at local businesses, helps everyone. Paying fair wages is good business. Our business is doing really well and raising the minimum wage will benefit Florida’s people and businesses,” Danielle Ferrari, owner of Valhalla Resale in Tampa, said in a statement provided by Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network of business owners, executives, and organizations.

Leigh Anne Balzekas, co-owner of The Disco Dolls Studio, a clothing store, hair salon and art gallery in Tampa, also supports the wage increase.

“Employees who are paid fairly are better employees and workers with more money to spend are better customers. We don’t have the costly and distracting high turnover often found in retail and service businesses. We have great customer service. When our employees are happy, our customers are happy. We hope the minimum wage increase uplifts wages all over Florida,” she said in a statement provided by Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

The Employment Policies Institute said in a news release that Florida’s wage law stunted growth in the state’s restaurant industry, citing a slowdown in year-over-year restaurant employment growth from 5.5 percent to .4 percent in 2025, the lowest growth rate in a decade.

“Florida’s hospitality industry is central to the state’s economy, but after the 2020 wage law, restaurant employment growth fell into a slump. Minimum wages that increase every year give businesses little reprieve. When rising labor costs outpace what businesses can absorb, everyone loses. Prices go up, automation ramps up, and workers are left with fewer job opportunities,” Rebekah Paxton, research director at EPI, said in a statement.

The Florida Policy Institute also said that despite this wage increase, many Florida workers will struggle to pay their bills.

“... far too many Floridians struggle to make ends meet at a $15 wage. Specifically, $15 is not enough for a full-time worker to afford basic expenses like housing, transportation, and groceries in any county in Florida — even without children,” FPI said. “In a handful of counties (e.g., Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe), even two full-time minimum wage workers without kids cannot afford these basic expenses. Statewide, a living hourly wage ranges from $19.57 for a single person without children to $34.10 for two adults with one child. Still, an estimated 1.2 million Floridians are expected to directly benefit from the new $15 minimum wage.”