Ohio workers earning minimum wage will take home 40 cents more per hour starting Jan. 1, 2027.

The Ohio Department of Commerce announced the 3.5% increase Wednesday, Sept. 30, raising the non-tipped minimum wage to $11.40 per hour and the tipped minimum to $5.70. The current rates are $11 and $5.50, respectively. For a full-time worker, the raise adds up to about $16 a week, cleveland.com reported.

The new rate applies to any Ohio employer with annual gross receipts above $420,000, including restaurants and retailers in the Powell area. That threshold is up from $405,000 in 2026, according to Delaware Source. Workers at smaller businesses and employees ages 14 and 15 remain subject to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

The annual adjustment is required by Ohio Constitutional Amendment II-34a, which voters approved in November 2006. It ties the state minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W). This year's 3.5% increase reflects CPI-W changes measured from Sept. 1, 2025, through Aug. 31, 2026. Last year's increase was 2.8%.

The gap between minimum-wage earnings and local living costs remains wide.Using Economic Policy Institute cost-of-living estimates, Policy Matters Ohio, a progressive research organization, reported in September that Delaware County has the state’s highest annual cost for a single adult, at $55,781. At the current $11 rate, a full-time minimum-wage worker earns $22,880 annually, below the federal poverty guideline for a family of three, the same report found.

Women make up 49.1% of Ohio's workforce but account for 62.9% of workers affected by the annual increase, according to Policy Matters Ohio.

Statewide, nearly 104,000 Ohioans earn minimum wage and another 169,000 earn slightly more, cleveland.com reported, citing a September 2026 Policy Matters Ohio study.

Employers are required to display the updated 2027 Minimum Wage poster, which is already available for download from the Division of Industrial Compliance website.

The new rates take effect Jan. 1.