Minimum Wage Increases For Most NJ Workers In 2025

NEW JERSEY — The minimum wage in New Jersey will automatically go up for most workers on Jan. 1, 2025, up to $15.49 per hour.

And while that increase is meant to help New Jersey workers deal with ongoing inflation, some policy analysts say it's far from the "living wage" needed to support their households.

Under a law signed in 2019, the New Jersey Department of Labor sets the state minimum wage each year, either calculating it based the Consumer Price Index or according to the rate set out in the law, whichever is a higher amount.

This 36-cent increase will give employees who work a 40-hour schedule an extra $14.40 every week. The minimum wage increase on Jan. 1 covers most employers and workers in New Jersey, but there are some exceptions.

Seasonal and small employers were given until 2026 to reach the $15 per hour benchmark, as state officials said this will lessen the impact on local businesses. The minimum hourly wage for these employees will increase to $14.53 on Jan. 1, up from $13.73.

Agricultural workers are guided by a separate minimum wage timetable, and were given until 2027 to reach the $15 per hour minimum wage. The hourly rate for these workers will increase from $12.81 to $13.40 in the new year.

Tipped employees will get a minimum wage increase in 2025, from $5.26 per hour to $5.62 per hour. And, direct care staff in long-term care facilities will see their minimum hourly wage increase to $18.49, from $18.13.

In New Jersey, the living wage is $84,278, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator — while a March report from GoBankingRates placed it at $64,463.

For comparison, someone making $15.49 per hour, and only working 40 hours a week at one job, will bring in an annual salary of $31,595.

In their recently-released "Blueprint for a Stronger New Jersey," the New Jersey Policy Perspective called for the state to both raise the minimum wage to $20, and to eliminate these exemptions for tipped workers, farmworkers, seasonal workers, and minors in certain jobs.

"The minimum wage’s purchasing power still lags because $15 in April 2018 would be worth nearly $19 today," the NJPP said.

Increasing the minimum wage and ending these exemptions would reduce income inequality and improve the quality of life for New Jersey’s families."

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