the raise you voted for

Alaska's minimum wage is going up to fourteen dollars an hour next month.

Come July first, every hourly worker in the state gets a raise. This is the second year in a row the minimum wage has climbed, and it's not done yet.

This comes from Ballot Measure 1 that Alaskans voted to pass in November twenty-twenty-four. The wage went to thirteen dollars last year. July first this year it goes to fourteen.

There's another step already locked in. On July first of twenty-twenty-seven, it goes to fifteen dollars an hour. After that, the wage adjusts each year with inflation. So it keeps moving up automatically.

The raise covers every hour worked, regardless of how you're paid. Whether you're working part time at a store in Wasilla, waiting tables in Anchorage, or doing seasonal work in Fairbanks, fourteen dollars is the new floor in less than a month.

For a full time worker, that's an extra two dollars an hour compared to last year. Over a summer of work, that adds up. For small business owners in food service and retail, it means recalculating labor costs right as the busy season starts.

This is one of those changes that lands automatically. If you're earning anything under fourteen dollars an hour right now, your rate changes on July first. No paperwork, no application. It just takes effect.