The following articlewas originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
Ohio’s minimum wage increased to $10.70 per hour for non-tipped employees and $5.35 per hour for tipped employees on Jan. 1, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce. This was an automatic adjustment due to a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2006.
This is a slight bump compared to 2024 when minimum wage for non-tipped employees was $10.45 per hour and $5.25 per hour for tipped employees.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Many states use the federal minimum wage including Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, among others, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Ohioans passed a citizen initiated constitutional amendment in 2006 that at the time raised the state minimum wage to $6.85, and it has upped the minimum wage every year since based on the consumer price index.
Despite the increase in minimum wage, it may not be enough for folks across the state. When it comes to housing, Ohioans need to be making at least $20.81 an hour working a full-time job to afford a two-bedroom apartment, according to a joint report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.
One Fair Wage
One Fair Wage, a national organization, tried to get minimum wage on the ballot in Ohio this past election, but theyfailed to submit the necessary signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State to get their initiative on the ballot.
The initiative would have increased minimum wage up to $15 per hour in 2026 and nixed Ohio’s tipped wage.
Upping Ohio’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026 would have helped nearly 1 million Ohioans — about a fifth of Ohio’s workforce, according to Policy Matters Ohio.
A study from the Scioto Analysis showed increasing Ohio’s minimum wage to $15 an hour wouldsave 4,000 lives and create a $25 billion benefit to the state economy by 2036.
One Fair Wage said they are still working on trying to get an initiative on Ohio’s ballot, but has yet to reveal specifics plans.
California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington all have minimum wages of at least $15 an hour, according to NCSL.
One Fair Wage faced heavy opposition from the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance, who predicted restaurant operators would be forced to raise their menu prices by about 20-30% if the initiative had passed.
