New Hampshire

NH’s minimum wage is $7.25. After latest House vote, it’s unlikely to change this year

Published

10 months ago

March 21, 2025

Press Room

NH’s minimum wage is .25. After latest House vote, it’s unlikely to change this year

On Thursday, the NH House voted to table a bill that would eventually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2028.
Democratic lawmakers in New Hampshire have tried to raise the minimum wage for the past 12 years, but they’ve continued to face steep opposition from Republicans.
New Hampshire’s current minimum wage is $7.25, which is the federal minimum, and is the lowest of all New England states.

New Hampshire’s minimum wage is about half the amount workers are paid in all other New England states, and that seems unlikely to change this year.

On Thursday, the New Hampshire House set aside the issue for now by voting to table a bill that would eventually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2028. It was a largely party line vote of 197 to 159, with all Democrats and two Republicans in opposition to tabling the bill.

New Hampshire’s current minimum wage is $7.25, which is the federal minimum. It has not increased since 2009.

Lawmakers can vote later to take the bill off the table and decide whether to pass it. But if the bill is not taken off the table by the end of this year’s session, it will die. The bill had come to the floor with a report of inexpedient to legislate, meaning it was unlikely to pass before the tabling motion was made.

Why doesn’t NH increase the minimum wage?

Rep. Kathy Staub, D-Manchester, who sponsored the bill, said that the low minimum wage is “out of step” with surrounding states. All other states in New England have raised their minimum wage to at least $14 as of 2025.

“The 61,000 workers who make less than $15 an hour in the state do important work and deserve fair compensation,” she said.

However, Rep. James Creighton, R-Antrim, who asked to table the bill, said that the bill will “harm New Hampshire businesses” and that “the market should drive wages.”

Another bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026 was already killed by the Senate in early March.

Democratic lawmakers in New Hampshire have tried to raise the minimum wage for the past 12 years, but they’ve continued to face steep opposition from Republicans.

These bills also face an uphill battle with new Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who opposed raising the federal minimum wage as a U.S. Senator and has stuck to that position, saying during her campaign for governor that the minimum wage should be up to the market and private businesses.

What’s the minimum wage in other New England states?

Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut and Maine increased their minimum wage in 2025, largely due to cost-of-living increases.

Here is the minimum wage in each New England state, from lowest to highest:

New Hampshire: $7.25
Vermont: $14.01
Maine: $14.65
Massachusetts: $15
Rhode Island: $15
Connecticut: $16.35

What state has the highest minimum wage?

While technically not a state, Washington D.C. has the highest minimum wage in the country at $17.50.

Washington state has the next highest at $16.28, and it increased in 2025 to $16.66 per hour.

The third highest is California, which increased its minimum wage to $16.50 in 2025. Fast food restaurant employers and healthcare facility employers have a higher minimum wage. The minimum wage for fast food workers starts at $20 and for healthcare workers it’s a scale that starts at $18 depending on the type of work.

New York and then Connecticut are the next two highest.

Contributing: Katie Landeck

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New Hampshire

5-year-old injured in New Year’s day Manchester, New Hampshire apartment building fire dies

Published

8 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

5-year-old injured in New Year’s day Manchester, New Hampshire apartment building fire dies

January 10, 2026 / 4:58 PM EST
/ CBS Boston

The child who was injured during a New Year’s Day apartment building fire in Manchester, New Hampshire has died, the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal announced on Saturday.

The 5-year-old girl had been found unresponsive in a fourth-floor bedroom by firefighters. She was rushed to a Boston hospital in critical condition and passed on Wednesday. The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has performed an autopsy to determine her cause of death.

The fire began just 30 minutes after midnight on Union Street. The flames raged on the third and fourth floors before spreading to the roof. One man was killed in the fire. He was identified as 70-year-old Thomas J. Casey, and his cause of death was determined to be smoke inhalation, according to the medical examiner.

One woman was rushed to a Boston hospital in critical condition. Five other people received serious injuries and were hospitalized. All the victims have since been discharged, according to the fire marshal.

Residents could be seen waiting in windows and on balconies for firefighters to rescue them.

“I kicked into high gear. I got my family rallied up. My son, my daughter, my wife. And I tried to find a way to get down safely off of one of the railings by trying to slide down one of the poles. But that didn’t work out,” said resident Jonathan Barrett.

Fire investigators believe the fire is not suspicious and started in a third-floor bedroom. The building did not have a sprinkler system but did have an operational fire alarm, the fire marshal said.

Around 10 families were displaced by the fire and are receiving help from the Red Cross. Around 50 people lived in the building.

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire services respond to 7-car crash

Published

20 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

New Hampshire services respond to 7-car crash

SPRINGFIELD, N.H. (ABC22/FOX44) – After an icy morning on Interstate 89 that saw multiple cars in a crash in Springfield, New Hampshire, responders say that they are thankful that only one person sustained injuries.

According to Springfield Fire Rescue, they originally were called at 7:40 a.m. on Friday for a reported two-car crash between Exits 12A and 13 – but arrived to find 7 vehicles involved, including 6 off the road.

According to authorities, all of the occupants of the cars were able to get themselves out and only one needed to be taken to the hospital. Their injuries were reported to be non-life-threatening.

“Springfield Fire Rescue would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to slow down and move over when emergency vehicles are in the roadway. The area where this incident occurred was very icy and we witnessed several other vehicles almost lose control when they entered the scene at too great a speed.”

Responders from New London, Enfield, and Springfield, as well as NH State Police, helped respond to the incident and clear the vehicles from the road, as well as to treat the ice to make the road safe.

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New Hampshire

Man killed in NH snowmobile crash

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

An Alton man is dead after a snowmobile crash in New Hampshire’s North Country Thursday afternoon.

The New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game says 63-year-old Bradford Jones was attempting to negotiate a left hand turn on Corridor Trail 5 in Colebrook when he lost control of his snowmobile, struck multiple trees off the side of the trail and was thrown from the vehicle shortly before 3:30 p.m.

Jones was riding with another snowmobiler, who was in the lead at the time of the crash, according to the agency. Once the other man realized Jones was no longer behind him, he turned around and traveled back where he found Jones significantly injured, lying off the trail beside his damaged snowmobile.

The man immediately rendered aid to Jones and called 911 for assistance, NH Fish and Game said. The Colebrook Fire Department used their rescue tracked all terrain vehicle and a specialized off road machine to transport first responders across about a mile of trail to the crash scene.

Once there, a conservation officer and 45th Parallel EMS staff attempted lifesaving measures for approximately an hour, but Jones ultimately died from his injuries at the scene of the crash, officials said.

The crash remains under investigation, but conservation officers are considering speed for the existing trail conditions to have been a primary factor in this deadly incident.

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