By Clayton Park
USA Today Network - Florida, October 1, 2026. Tallahassee Democrat, Florida Times Union, Palm Beach Post, Sarasota Herald Tribune, Daytona Beach News Journal, Naples News, Marco Eagle, Treasure Coast News, more

... In Tampa, Danielle Ferrari runs Valhalla Resale, a shop where customers can borrow as well as purchase clothing. A vocal advocate of increasing the Florida minimum wage, she has one part-time employee.

"I'm excited," she said. "When regular people have more money to spend in their neighborhood, it's better for everyone. It's resulted in an increase in sales for me...

After FL voters passed a 2020 constitutional amendment, the state's minimum wage has increased by $1 each year.

By Tiffany Razzano
Patch Sarasota, Sep 30, 2026

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

“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...

By McKenna Schueler
Orlando Weekly, Sept 30, 2026

Florida’s minimum wage is about to hit $15 — and that didn’t come by chance, or the political will of politicians, but by the tenacity and determination of Floridians themselves.

A $15 minimum wage in 2020 got more votes in Florida than either Donald Trump or Joe Biden, receiving bipartisan support from voters across party lines. More than six million Floridians of all political stripes that year voted for Amendment 2, a ballot measure to gradually increase the state’s minimum wage. Its passage made Florida the first...

By Christine Sexton
Florida Phoenix, Sept 29, 2026. Also in Yahoo News, the Bradenton Times, Florida Trend business magazine, Citrus County Chronicle, News from the States, WLRN (NPR) Miami

An estimated 1.29 million minimum-wage (nontip) Florida workers will start earning a $15 hourly wage Wednesday. ...

Florida voters approved the $15 minimum wage in 2020 in the form of Amendment 2 when the state’s minimum wage at the time was $8.46 an hour. Amendment 2 required that the minimum wage be increased to $10 an hour on Sept. 30, 2021, and by $1 a year thereafter until Sept. 30, when it hit the $15 mark. Thereafter, the minimum wage increases annually based on inflation. ...

Sisters Leigh Anne Balzekas and Kristine Ownley are co-owners of The Disco Dolls Studio, a clothing store, hair salon, and art gallery in Tampa. ...

By Clayton Park, USA Today Network - Florida

Florida Times Union, Sept. 28, 2026, Updated Sept. 29, 2026. Also in Daytona Beach News Journal

... Danielle Ferrari owns Valhalla Resale, a clothing membership store in Tampa's Seminole Heights district. Ferrari, who has a part-time employee, is pleased Florida's minimum wage is rising to $15 an hour on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. "It's better for everyone," she said.

Leigh Anne Balzekas, right, and her sister Kristine Ownsley co-own The Disco Dolls hair salon/clothing design store/art gallery in Tampa. Balzekas said they are happy Florida's minimum wage...

Op-Ed By Holly Sklar
Distributed by American Forum, August 24, 2026. Philadelphia Tribune, Florida Politics, Dallas Examiner, Marietta Daily Journal (GA), N'West Iowa Review, Amsterdam News, Tideland News (NC), Hammond Star (La), Fort Madison Daily Democrat (IA), Smoky Mountain Times (NC), Gettysburg Times, many more.

... Raising the federal minimum wage would boost wages from the bottom up. Instead, the growing gap between the minimum wage and the cost of living is keeping millions of workers in poverty at the minimum wage and above it. ...

Workers’ share of national income is at record lows while corporate profits are at record highs.

While the federal minimum wage has stayed at $7.25 since 2009, the number of U.S. billionaires has swelled from 357 to 989 – and 15 of them have a net worth of more than $100 billion each. ...

Op-Ed By Holly Sklar
Distributed by American Forum, July 15, 2026. Patriot News (Harrisburg, PA), El Paso Times, Tribune News Service, Yahoo News, Santa Fe New Mexican, Gettysburg Times, Atlanta Daily World, Hannibal Courier Post (MO), Breeze Newspapers (FL), Our Weekly (LA), Newark Advocate (OH), Enterprise Journal (MS), KPC News (IN), many more.

People who work for a living need to be able to make a living. Raising the minimum wage is a vital part of the solution to the affordability crisis.

The cost of food, housing and other necessities has risen sharply. But the...

MSN News, July 6, 2026

...  Groups like Business for a Fair Minimum Wage argue that higher wage floors reduce turnover, boost consumer spending, and level the playing field, citing examples from Oregon, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Alaska. ... Local business owners, such as in Juneau, Alaska, say fair pay helps retain staff and improve service quality.

"People who work for a living need to be able to make a living—not struggling to afford basic necessities. These state and local minimum wage increases will help workers keep up with inflation and bolster the consumer spending...

By Jean Marbella
Baltimore Sun, July 2, 2026. Also Yahoo News, Capital Gazette, Carroll County Times.

At just 18 and with several jobs already under his belt, Mason Byrd has already learned a truth about the lower end of the wage scale.

"The reality is," the Ellicott City resident said, "there is a difference between minimum wage and a living wage."

On Wednesday, the minimum wage in Howard County rose to $16 an hour for all employees regardless of size, part of a series of phased-in increases mandated by a 2021 law ...

At BA...

By Lillian Reed
Baltimore Banner, 7/1/2026

Employees at Howard County’s smallest businesses are getting a raise in July thanks to a pandemic-era law that established incremental hikes to the minimum wage beginning in 2022.

The wage floor is now $16 an hour for county businesses with 14 or fewer employees, along with nonprofits and entities that provide home and health services and food services. It’s the final adjustment spelled out in the law before the county’s local minimum wage increases shift to being set by the consumer price index in 2027.

The law puts Howard...

By Kevin Hardy
Stateline, June 24, 2026. Also Yahoo News, CPA Practice Advisor, Michigan Advance, Pennsylvania Capital Star, Arizona Daily Sun, Missoula Current, Republic Monitor (MO), Louisiana Illuminator, Idaho Capital Sun, KOTA-TV (Rapid City, SD), many more.

Workers in more than 20 cities and states will see the minimum wage increase next month as local governments continue to raise the wage floor amid federal inaction. ... Alaska and Oregon will see statewide increases in the wage floor July 1 ...

But proponents say that a higher wage floor is needed to keep up with rising...

By Indeed Editorial Team
Indeed, Updated June 16, 2026

When you accept a promotion or are applying for a new job, it's important to consider the salary range. Understanding how your salary compares to standard figures like the cost of living and minimum wage can help you assess whether it adequately meets your needs. ...

While minimum wage amounts have continued to increase among many states, many argue that the cost of living is still higher than minimum wage provides, especially for those supporting a family. Inflation can also impact cost of living, which can outpace...

By Alyssa Burr
Alaska Independent, June 9, 2026

Alaska workers will see their minimum hourly wage increase from $13 to $14 on July 1. The boost in hourly pay stems from a 2024 ballot measure approved by roughly 58% of Alaska voters. The measure amended Alaska labor law to phase in annual minimum wage increases until the state’s pay for hourly workers reaches $15 in July 2027. The minimum wage will increase to adjust for inflation in the years thereafter. This July also marks one year since employers were required to provide paid sick time...

By Sean Salai
Washington Times, April 13, 2026

... Under Ms. Spanberger, Virginia joins more than a dozen other states that pay service workers at least $15 an hour ... The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute projects that 17 states pay at least $15 an hour this year, from $15.15 in Arizona to $17.13 in Washington.

“I don’t agree that raising Virginia’s minimum wage will kill jobs or hurt the economy,” Holly Sklar, CEO of the advocacy group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said in an email. “Minimum wage increases boost consumer spending, which boosts...

By Arun Venugopa
Gothamist, March 19, 2026

Supporters and opponents of a proposed $30-minimum wage for New York City are preparing for a battle a week after the measure was introduced in the City Council. ...

Some employers have proactively embraced higher wages for what they say are business reasons.

Aaron Seyedian, owner of Well-Paid Maids, a cleaning company that operates across the country, said its employees in New York were paid $27 an hour and received 24 paid days off each year.

Seyedian said his pay structure ensured turnover at his firm is 25%...