Florida
When will minimum wage go up again in Florida and how much? What is minimum wage in 2025?
Minimum wage hike to go into effect for some across US
Workers in several states and cities will see minimum wage increases go into effect on January 1, 2025, as they continue to battle with high prices.
Minimum wage workers in Florida, your paychecks will get another bump this year and the next on the way to $15 an hour.
That’s thanks to the amendment Floridians approved in 2020 to raise the wage incrementally, first from $8.65 to $10 in 2021 and then another dollar every year until it reaches $15 an hour for non-tipped employees and $10.98 for tipped employees.
It’s part of a growing trend for higher minimum wages. On Jan. 1, 2025. 21 states and 48 cities and counties raised theirs, according to a report provided exclusively to USA TODAY by the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group. More states and a few more cities and counties will be raising their minimum later this year.
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has been since 2009.
What will Florida’s minimum wage be in 2025?
Florida’s minimum wage will become $14 an hour for non-tipped employees and $10.98 for tipped employees.
When will Florida’s minimum wage rise again?
The minimum wage rates for both tipped and non-tipped employees will rise on Sept. 30, 2025, and will rise again in 2026.
Florida passes $15 minimum wage Amendment 2
Florida voters approve raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Rob Landers, FLORIDA TODAY
Which states have the highest minimum wage?
Several states have passed minimum wage increases in recent years. The current highest minimum wages in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, are:
- Washington D.C.: $17.50 an hour
- California: $16.50 an hour
- Washington state: $16.66 an hour
- Connecticut: $16.35
- New York (New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County, & Westchester County): $16.50 an hour
- New Jersey: $15.49 an hour
- Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, rest of New York, Rhode Island: $15 an hour
Fourteen states pay the federal minimum rate of $7.25, as all states must do at a minimum for jobs covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Some have higher rates for businesses that meet certain conditions.
Georgia and Wyoming businesses pay $5.15 an hour, although in Georgia it only applies to employers of six or more employees. In Montana, businesses with gross annual sales of less than $110,000 pay $4 an hour.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee have no state minimum wage law.
What is the highest minimum wage in the country?
Burien, Washington will set its minimum pay at $21.16 for employers in King County with 500 or more workers.
What happens after Florida’s minimum wage hits the $15 cap?
The amendment was intended to get minimum wages more in line with current costs of living. After it reaches $15, the state will return to the previous method of calculating cost-of-living adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index.
What is the living wage in Florida?
The minimum wage is different from a living wage, however, which tries to calculate how much a person needs to earn per hour to afford the necessities — housing, childcare, health care, food, etc. — where they live.
In February 2024, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) living wage calculator found that the living wage in Florida is $22.43 an hour for one adult with no children, $37.27 for an adult with one child, $45.36 for an adult with two children and $58.76 for an adult with three children.
How is the minimum wage for tipped employees calculated in Florida?
Employers of tipped employees must pay their employees minimum wage, but they can count the tips the employees receive toward it up to the maximum of $3.02, the allowable Fair Labor Standards Act tip credit of 2003. So the direct wage they must pay is the minimum wage minus $3.02.
The current minimum wage in Florida is $13 an hour, so the tipped minimum wage is $9.98. Both will go up a dollar each until they reach $15 an hour for non-tipped employees and $11.98 for tipped employees.
Do minimum wage laws in Florida apply to all employers?
No, there are certain occupations and situations where the Department of Labor allowed exemptions to the federal minimum wage law where employees may be paid less. These include, among others:
- Executive, administrative and professional employees
- Commissioned sales employees
- Farm workers
- Seasonal or recreational establishment workers
- Newspaper delivery people
- Federal criminal investigators
- Informal workers such as babysitters
- Minors under certain circumstances
- Student workers
- Employees with disabilities if the employer has a certificate from the Department of Labor allowing it (a measure to encourage more employers to hire people with disabilities)
- Nonprofit or educational organizations that have applied for an exemption, and others.
- Employees of enterprises with an annual gross income of less than $50,000
What was the minimum wage in Florida before?
Florida’s minimum wage was tied to the federal minimum wage created in 1938 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 which set the minimum hourly wage at 25 cents, banned oppressive child labor and capped the maximum workweek at 44 hours. But in 2005, Florida voters approved Amendment 5 to establish a state minimum wage over the federal standard. Florida has paid its minimum wage workers more than the federal minimum ever since.
Amendment 5 brought the hourly wage for non-tipped employees to $6.15, a dollar more than the federal minimum at the time, and required the Department of Economic Opportunity to calculate an adjusted state minimum wage rate based on the rate of inflation for the 12 months prior to Sept. 1, based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. New adjustments were to take effect the following Jan. 1.
There have been several increases since:
- 2005: Raised to $6.15 an hour
- 2006: Raised to $6.40 an hour
- 2009: Raised to $7.21 an hour
- 2010: Raised to $7.25 an hour
- 2016: After 6 years, raised to $8.05 an hour
- 2017: Raised to $8.10 an hour
- 2018: Raised to $8.25 an hour
- 2019: Raised to $8.45 an hour
- 2021: Raised to $10 an hour to meet requirements from the 2020 amendment
- 2022: Raised to $11 an hour
- 2023: Raised to $12 an hour
- 2024: Raised to $13 an hour
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA)— A Florida mental health counselor walked into a surprising number of bats inside her office last week.
“We had about 50 bats. In the toilet, in the sink. All over,” Shaltala Boss, a licensed mental health counselor, said.
Boss has since moved her office due to maternity season, when it is illegal to exclude or remove bats from April 16 to August 14, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“Any form of eviction during this time period will result in baby bats being trapped along with adult bats that may not have emerged. Trapped bats will attempt to escape and may end up in the living space of buildings,” FWC said.
Video provided by Boss showed a bat lying on the ground.
“You definitely didn’t want to come to counseling that day,” Boss said.
Boss has since moved to another location and said it is bat-free.
“Most bats will avoid humans at all costs and use natural roosting structures for shelter during the day. However, bats sometimes find their way into our homes and structures, which can present a health hazard,” FWC said.
Republican Congressman Byron Donalds is trailing Democratic candidate David Jolly in the race to become Florida’s next governor, according to a new poll from Change Research, a Democratic-aligned polling firm.
The survey could be an encouraging sign for Florida Democrats, who have not won a statewide election since 2018 and have struggled as the state shifted steadily toward Republicans in recent election cycles.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is term-limited and cannot seek reelection in 2026, won a second term by nearly 20 percentage points in 2022, while Republicans have expanded their voter registration advantage and maintained control of every statewide elected office.
Still, some recent polling has suggested the push to replace DeSantis could be a bit more competitive than many have expected.
President Donald Trump last month again vocalized his support for Donalds, saying in part, “I know Byron well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a TOTAL WINNER!” The president added, “Byron Donalds will be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”
Trump won the Sunshine State by 13 points in 2024 against then-Vice President Kamala Harris and no Democrat has won the Florida governorship in more than 20 years.
When reached for comment regarding the new poll, Donalds’ campaign referred Newsweek to the X post of Gates McGavick, the team’s communications director. McGavick said in reaction to the poll, “I hear Change Research also sells tremendous ocean front property in Arizona.”
The campaign also referred Newsweek to Ryan Smith’s post on X, while saying he is also affiliated with the campaign. Smith said, “This is a push poll by Democrats for Democrats. The truth is, Florida Democrats will be crying in their kombucha on November 3 when @ByronDonalds is elected governor.”
What To Know
The Change Research survey found Jolly, a former Republican congressman who switched parties and entered the race as a Democrat, leading Donalds in a hypothetical general-election matchup.
Jolly has centered his campaign on affordability issues surrounding insurance costs, housing and healthcare, while Donalds has campaigned as a conservative successor who will attempt to enact Trump’s agenda and fight illegal immigration.
According to the poll, Jolly leads Donalds 47 percent to 42 percent and has a slightly larger margin among likely voters with 49 percent compared to 43 percent.
The poll surveyed 1,273 registered voters of which 1,015 said they will likely vote in the 2026 midterm election. The survey’s margin of error is 2.8 percent.
Also in the poll, Jolly garners 94 percent support from Democrats compared to Donalds’ 77 percent among Republicans.
What Other Polls Show
Another recent Change Research poll shows Jolly leading Donalds 46 percent to 42 percent. The poll was taken from May 13 to May 16 among 2,070 registered voters, of whom 1,593 say they will likely vote in the midterm election. The poll has a margin of error of 2.3 percent.
In a survey at the end of March by Emerson College Polling, Donalds landed 44 percent of the vote compared to Jolly’s 39 percent. The poll shows that 17 percent are undecided. It was taken from March 29 to March 31 among 1,125 likely voters and has a margin of error of 2.8 percent.
FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A recent viral trend — dubbed the “Door Kick Challenge” — has been causing issues as of late in Central Florida.
The challenge involves teens covering their faces, kicking or pounding stranger’s front door when it’s dark outside, and sprinting off into the night.
[WATCH: FCSO releases footage of ‘Door Kick Challenge’ in action]
But on Wednesday, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly warned there could be deadly consequences.
According to the sheriff’s office, these pranks may come across as an attempted home invasion for some, and with Florida being a “Stand Your Ground” state, neighbors have the right to treat it as such.
[ Central Florida deputy consoles 12-year-old accused in door-kicking incident]
“Parents, keep an eye on your children. We know they want to have fun, but they are taking huge risks when they mask up and kick strangers’ doors,” Staly said. “Be the sheriff of your own home, talk to your kids, know their friends, and make sure they know the risks associated with doing what the internet tells them to do.”
But in a release, the sheriff’s office delivered the message in a “language” that teens may better understand:
“This door kick ‘challenge’ is not the side quest you think it is.
It’s trendslop, pure brain rot straight off the FYP. You think you’re the alpha chad of the cul-de-sac? Nah bruh, you’re one hoodie masked-up sprint away from priors. The kind of rap that gets you cancelled before you ever stack any clout. Zero drip in our jail’s barbershop-looking mugshots.
Okay, real talk. Florida is a Stand Your Ground state. A NPC wakes up to two randos kicking their door at 1 a.m. wearing sheisties — they don’t see a flex, they get the ick, and think your side quest is a home invasion. And no cap, you’ll get capped.
Taking an L on TikTok? Recoverable. Taking a round to the chest? There’s no respawn.
So skip this one, chief. Find clout elsewhere.”
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
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