Overview
- Nineteen states implement higher minimum wages on New Year’s Day, with three more scheduled to raise rates later in 2026.
- New York’s rate increases to $17 an hour in New York City, Long Island and Westchester and to $16 across the rest of the state starting Jan. 1.
- For a full-time worker upstate, the new $16 rate equals about $640 a week, roughly $33,000 a year, adding about $20 a week in pay.
- Beginning in 2027, New York’s minimum wage will adjust annually using a three-year moving average of the Northeast CPI-W, with a statutory option to pause increases if the economy weakens.
- The higher state floors widen the gap with the federal minimum of $7.25, as business groups caution that rising labor costs could curb hiring and accelerate automation.