PHOENIX (AZFamily\/CNN)<\/b> \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Effective Jan. 1, 2026, Arizona\u2019s minimum wage will rise to $15.15 per hour. That\u2019s a 45-cent increase<\/a> from the current $14.70.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Amit Batabyal, professor of economics at the Rochester Institute of Technology, says while the wage increases are good news, it\u2019s not going to solve the affordability crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cWealth inequality in the United States, where the difference between the 1 percenters and the 99 percenters is staggeringly large,\u201d Batabyal said. \u201cIt will definitely help people at the lower end of the income distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Andrew Chamberlain is the principal economist at Gusto, a human resources payroll firm. He says history shows small changes in wages don\u2019t have a huge effect on businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies either absorb the cost, or they\u2019ll pass some of it forward in the form of higher prices to consumers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Most of the wage increases will take effect Jan. 1, but three states \u2013 Alaska, Florida and Oregon \u2013 will raise their hourly minimum wages later in the year.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n