Ohio’s minimum wage rises as inflation rises

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – Growing inflation over the past year means a raise for minimum wage workers in Ohio.

The 30-cent hike to $11 an hour takes effect Jan. 1 and applies to nontipped workers in businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $405,000. The receipt threshold grew from $394,000.

The wage for tipped workers will move to $5.50 per hour. Businesses that do not meet the receipt threshold work under the current federal minimum wage of $7.25.

The increase comes after the Consumer Price Index rose 2.8% from Sept. 1, 2024, to Aug. 31, 2025.

Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2006 that tied the state’s minimum wage to inflation. It has increased 18 times since then, with the largest inflation-based increase occurring in 2023 at 8.7%. That took workers from $9.30 an hour to $10.10.

Steve Stivers, president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, told The Center Square that tying the wage to inflation works best for employers and employees, rather than massive spikes in compensation directed by legislation or voters.

“Ohio’s minimum wage is already indexed to inflation, and this 2.8% increase is exactly how the system is designed to work,” Stivers said. “Each year, the rate adjusts to keep pace with rising costs, which provides predictability for both workers and employers. We believe this is the responsible way to handle minimum wage increases, rather than arbitrary jumps to a set number that could hurt small businesses and job growth across the state.”

Last year, a citizen-led effort to propose a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026 failed to gather enough signatures to reach the ballot.