COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio workers who make minimum wage will see a slight bump in their pay as of Jan. 1, 2024.
The Ohio Department of Commerce says the state’s new minimum wage has increased to $10.45 per hour for non-tipped employees, which is 35 cents higher than 2023's rate.
For tipped employees, the minimum wage jumps by 20 cents to $5.25 per hour.
Ohio’s minimum wage only applies to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $385,000 per year. Businesses making less than that amount are permitted to pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which is also the state’s minimum wage for employees ages 14-15.
So why was this amount chosen for the new minimum wage? A constitutional amendment passed by Ohio voters in November of 2006 says the state’s minimum wage “shall increase on January 1 each year by the rate of inflation.”
“The state minimum wage is tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) for urban wage earners and clerical workers over the 12-month period prior to September,” according to the Ohio Department of Commerce. “The CPI-W index increased by 3.7% over the 12-month period from Sept. 1, 2022, to Aug. 31, 2023.”
