Florida's Minimum Wage Hits $15 an Hour on September 30
The final step of a six-year phase-in approved by voters in 2020 arrives this month, and future increases will now track inflation instead of a fixed dollar amount.
Florida's minimum wage reaches $15.00 an hour on September 30, 2026, the last step of Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment voters approved in 2020. Tipped employees will see their required direct cash wage rise from $10.98 to $11.98 an hour, with employers still able to apply a fixed $3.02 tip credit.
When voters approved the measure, Florida's minimum wage was $8.56 an hour. It rose to $10 in 2021, then $1 every September after that, reaching $15 this year. Florida has no separate, lower wage for teens or students; every employee gets the full state rate. The Florida Policy Institute estimates the increase affects roughly 2.5 million workers, about a quarter of the state's workforce.
The policy has split opinion from the start. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association warned it would push businesses to raise prices or cut staff, while labor advocates like the Fight for $15 campaign celebrated it as overdue pay for hourly workers. Six years in, economists say the real picture has been mixed: prices have risen roughly in line with broader inflation, while employment in many Florida counties has kept growing rather than shrinking.
After this final increase, future adjustments switch to an inflation-based formula, with the state recalculating the rate every September 30 starting in 2027.
You can find more information at USA Today.
