TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida minimum wage has increased by $1 since 2021 as part of a voter-backed state amendment to gradually increase the minimum wage until it reaches $15 per hour.
When the amendment was approved, the minimum wage was set to increase from $8.65 to $10 in 2021. Now, it's $12 per hour.
When will the minimum wage increase in 2024?
This year is no different, with the minimum wage increasing to $13 per hour for non-tipped employees and $9.98 per hour for tipped employees this September.
The new salary will go into effect on Sept. 30, 2024, and will rise again on the same date in 2025 and 2026 until it reaches $15 for non-tipped employees and $11.98 for tipped employees.
The minimum wage in Florida was stuck between $6.15 and $8.45 an hour from 2005 to 2019 — a $2.30 increase across 14 years. When the 2020 amendment was signed into law, the minimum wage rose to $10 in 2021 to meet the amendment's requirements.
What happens after Florida's minimum wage hits the $15 cap?
The amendment was voted in to get minimum wages in line with the current cost of living. After the $15 cap is reached in 2026, the state will return to its previous method of calculating cost-of-living adjustments by adjusting to inflation based on the Consumer Price Index.
However, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) living wage calculator shows to live comfortably in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, while working full time as one adult with no children, a living wage is $22.70 per hour, or $47,216 gross yearly income. With one child, $37,43; two children, $45.55; and three children, $58.52 per hour.
A livable wage for two adults, both working with no children in the area, is calculated to be $15.32.
