PHOENIX (AZFamily/CNN) — Arizona is among the nearly two dozen states that will be raising minimum wages in 2026 at a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability.
Effective Jan. 1, 2026, Arizona’s minimum wage will rise to $15.15 per hour. That’s a 45-cent increase from the current $14.70.
Millions of Americans could soon receive higher paychecks as 22 states and the District of Columbia raise their hourly minimum wages. The other states set for increases are Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
In some areas, the higher rates will be more than double the current federal minimum wage, which was set at $7.25 an hour in 2009. The highest minimum wage will be in D.C. at $17.95 an hour.
Amit Batabyal, professor of economics at the Rochester Institute of Technology, says while the wage increases are good news, it’s not going to solve the affordability crisis.
“Wealth inequality in the United States, where the difference between the 1 percenters and the 99 percenters is staggeringly large,” Batabyal said. “It will definitely help people at the lower end of the income distribution.”
The number of hourly workers who earned the federal minimum wage or less last year was around 1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Andrew Chamberlain is the principal economist at Gusto, a human resources payroll firm. He says history shows small changes in wages don’t have a huge effect on businesses.
“Companies either absorb the cost, or they’ll pass some of it forward in the form of higher prices to consumers,” he said.
Most of the wage increases will take effect Jan. 1, but three states – Alaska, Florida and Oregon – will raise their hourly minimum wages later in the year.
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