Arizona’s Minimum Wage Will Go Up to $13.85 Next Year

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

The minimum wage in Arizona will go up to $13.85 per hour starting Jan. 1, according to the Industrial Commission of Arizona.

That’s a $1.05 increase from the current $12.80 an hour. 

The city of Flagstaff is increasing its minimum wage from $15.50 to $16.80 per hour starting Jan. 1—a raise of $1.30.

The state has one of the nation’s highest minimum wages in the country following the passage of Proposition 206 in 2016. That voter-approved ballot measure bumped up the minimum wage in four steps from $8.05 an hour in late 2016 to $12 an hour by Jan. 1, 2020.

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After the initial four-year raise, increases will now be tied to changes in the national Consumer Price Index for urban workers, a widely followed US inflation gauge. Arizona’s minimum-wage inflation calculation runs from September through August each year, with adjustments taking effect the following January.

In Flagstaff, voters passed their own minimum wage act in November 2016 that stipulated the city’s minimum wage would be increased annually by the increase in the cost of living beginning in 2023.

For example, at the start of 2021, Arizona’s minimum wage increased moderately to $12.15 an hour from $12 in 2020, reflecting a slight 1.3% bump in US inflation from September 2019 through August 2020.

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Inflation then perked up to 5.3% over the 12 months through last August, pushing up Arizona’s minimum wage to $12.80 an hour starting this year.

This August, the consumer price index numbers were 8.3% greater than for August 2021.

Tucson has a higher minimum wage than the statewide rate at $13 an hour, and it will increase to $13.50 come Jan. 1. But that amount was written into the voter-approved Proposition 206 passed last year. The city’s minimum wage increases won’t be tied to inflation until 2026. 

States that have or soon will have higher minimums include:

• California: $15 an hour
• Washington: $14.49 an hour
• Massachusetts: $14.25 an hour 
• Connecticut: $14 an hour 
• New York: $13.20 an hour
• New Jersey: $13 an hour 

Minimum wages have risen or will increase in about half of all states this year, the group said.

Yet the federal minimum has stayed at $7.25 an hour since 2009 (or $2.13 for employees who regularly receive tips). It remains in effect in 20 states, mainly in the South and Midwest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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