COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s minimum wage will increase 30 cents to $11 per hour Thursday.
The Economic Policy Institute estimates that approximately 103,800 Ohioans paid less than $11 per hour will experience a direct wage increase, and 169,300 more Ohioans likely will see an increase in their wages as employers adjust their pay scales.
The minimum wage for tipped workers will increase to $5.50, with direct or projected indirect effects on every one of the 97,100 Ohioans in tipped occupations.
“Thanks to the foresight of Ohio voters in 2006, who passed a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage and annually adjust it based on inflation, the lowest-paid working Ohioans will see a wage increase on January 1st,” Heather Smith, work and wages researcher for Policy Matters Ohio, said in a statement. “As a result, nearly a quarter of Ohio families classified as ‘in poverty’ will experience some modicum of relief from rising prices.”
The adjustment will help an estimated 171,800 female and 101,400 male Ohioans. By Census-classified race/ethnicity, it will benefit an estimated 198,800 White workers, 43,000 Black workers, 14,400 Hispanic workers, 6,000 Asian workers and 10,900 workers of other races and ethnicities.
Nearly two-thirds of the workers affected are over age 20; nearly three-quarters work more than 20 hours per week; and almost 1 in 10 Ohio children – 203,900 total – live in homes that will be helped by the increase.
“Across the country, voters have been passing $15 minimum wage laws, and in 2026 more workers will live in a state with a $15 minimum wage than in a state that relies on the federal minimum of $7.25,” Smith said. “While Ohio’s indexed minimum wage is nothing to scoff at – it has ensured hundreds of thousands of Ohioans received relief from inflation for nearly 20 years – Ohio should join the ranks of states with minimum wage laws closer to the cost of living. Ohioans deserve better, and our economy can handle it. It’s time to raise the wage.”