New Jersey’s minimum wage will rise by 36 cents to $15.49 per hour on January 1, 2025, the most recent of several scheduled increases signed into law by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in early 2019.
Murphy took office with the state’s minimum wage set at $8.60. He campaigned for an increase in the minimum wage to $15 per hour, which was a major issue for progressives at the time.
The state constitution ties the minimum wage to the consumer price index, which is essentially inflation.
“Aligning the state minimum wage with any increases in the cost of living is a critical step towards economic fairness and security for all New Jersey workers,” New Jersey Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo stated in October. “This adjustment fosters a more equitable economy and ensures our workforce can continue to thrive.”
California, Connecticut, and Washington have higher minimum wage rates than New Jersey, while 20 states are subject to the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which has remained unchanged since 2009.
New York City and Long Island’s minimum wage is set at $16 per hour.
Not everyone gets the same wage increase
- Seasonal businesses and those with up to five workers are increasing 80 cents, to $14.53, and will hit $15 an hour by 2028.
- Farm workers’ rates are rising from $12.81 to $13.40 an hour; their minimum wage will hit $15 an hour in 2030.
- Long-term care workers go up by 36 cents, to $18.49 an hour.
- Tipped workers are rising from $5.26 an hour to $5.62 an hour. If tips and minimum wage combined fall short of $15.49 an hour, employers will have to make up the difference.
Is New Jersey’s minimum wage enough?
Murphy signed a $15 minimum wage increase in February 2019. According to the federal inflation calculator, a worker would need to have been paid $18.72 in November 2024 to match the value of $15 in February 2019.
Last December, Murphy stated that he was open to raising the minimum wage to $18 or $20 per hour.
“I wonder whether or not we shouldn’t be taking this higher,” Murphy, a Democrat, said on his call-in radio show, “Ask Governor Murphy,” which airs on several NPR affiliate stations. “That’s something I’m open to.”
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, two working parents with two children in Bergen County would need to earn $32.25 per hour in 2024 to maintain a basic standard of living.
MIT’s “living wage” calculates how much a person would need to earn to cover basic expenses such as food, child care, health care, housing, transportation, and broadband access.
According to a report released this summer by the United Way of Northern New Jersey, one adult with one school-age child would need to earn at least $53,268 in 2022 dollars to cover basic expenses such as housing, child care, food, transportation, technology, and health care.
None of the state’s most common occupations — retail salespersons, laborers, freight and material movers, cashiers, janitors and cleaners, office clerks, administrative assistants, customer service representatives, restaurant servers, security guards, and maintenance and repair workers — earned that much.
