Another Illinois minimum wage hike coming on New Year’s Day. The Illinois statewide minimum wage for workers who do not also collect tips is currently $12.00/hour. On Sunday, January 1, and thereafter, this number will increase to $13.00/hour.
This is a step increase that will go into effect on New Year’s Day as part of a staircase of increases enacted by a partisan General Assembly majority in 2019. Further increases will generate a statewide $15.00/hour minimum wage in calendar year 2025.
The minimum wage increase to $13/hour will affect only a small slice of Illinois workers. Most Illinois residents who work and collect wages are paid more than the minimum. In many locations and across many jobs, crafts, and professions, wage rates are already well above $13/hour.
Primary areas where the change will be of importance will be in geographic areas of relatively low work and wage activity, among persons with startup or semiskilled talent sets. In some cases, increasing the minimum wage may make it more difficult for young or challenged persons to successfully enter the Illinois workforce. Many neighboring states have lower minimum wages and unemployment rates than Illinois.
For example, the 2022 minimum wage in Missouri is $11.15/hour, and the unemployment rate was 2.6% in that state as of October 2022.