The Ohio minimum wage is set to increase Jan. 1, 2026, to $11 per hour for non-tipped employees and $5.50 per hour for tipped employees.
The current minimum wage in Ohio is $10.70 for non-tipped employees and $5.35 for tipped employees. The coming increase is 2.8%, in line with current inflation rates.
However, the minimum wage for 14- and 15-year-old workers remains at $7.25 per hour, corresponding with the federal minimum wage that can only be changed by Congress or the president.
Daniel Karney, an associate professor in Ohio University’s department of economics, said the change in wages will not be significant.
“What it means when you index a price to inflation is that it is held constant in real terms,” Karney said. “That is, the minimum wage isn’t actually changing in any meaningful economic way.”
In 2008, the Ohio legislature passed an amendment proclaiming the minimum wage must be adjusted every January based on the previous year’s rate of inflation.
Since then, several bills have been proposed to increase the minimum wage above the annual inflation rate.
Senate Bill 234, recently introduced by Sens. Kent Smith and Hearcel Craig proposes the Ohio minimum wage should be increased by $1 every year until 2029, making the minimum wage $15 per hour by then. After September 2029, the director of commerce would adjust the minimum wage to correspond with inflation rates each year.
However, Karney warned about the negative effects of making minimum wage higher than inflation rates.
“On the cost side, there may be some workers where businesses will no longer hire them at the higher real wage,” Karney said. “So there may be a decrease in employment because of the increase in the real minimum wage.”
Karney also said it could lead to layoffs and the substitution of employees with other mechanisms, such as automated ordering systems.
However, he said workers would still benefit from increased wages with more spending money.
Karney also noted minimum wage laws are necessary in a practical society.
“If all markets are working well, then the classic argument is that minimum wages are not needed,” Karney said. “But in our society, we have other criteria beyond just economic efficiency, so economists can inform the discussion about minimum wage laws, but society decides things like minimum wage laws through mechanisms like politics.”
According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the annual cost of living in Ohio in 2022 was $47,768, which is roughly $3,980 a month.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator states an adult with no children would need to make $20.38 per hour to be able to comfortably support themselves working full time. An adult with one child would need to make $37.36 hourly to comfortably support themselves and their child.
For working parents, MIT predicts they would each have to be making $21.20 an hour to support themselves and their child.
Zoe Kirsch, a senior studying communications, said she thinks the current minimum wage needs to be increased further.
“(The minimum wage) definitely needs to be revisited,” Kirsch said. “I think it’s a really big issue because the minimum wage is just not a living wage for most people, especially in the last few months.”
Kirsch said she thinks a more appropriate minimum wage would be at least $14-15 per hour.
However, Kirsch did express frustration over the complexity of minimum wage laws and their effects, especially for small businesses.
“If you work at a little diner or something, who knows how much money you’re making on a day,” Kirsch said. “I think it’s just hard because obviously the businesses need support too, and it’s not necessarily their fault that they can’t pay their employees more, but it’s not good for anybody right now.”
