Colorado sets higher minimum wage for 2025. Here’s what to expect

Colorado’s minimum wage is set to go up in 2025 to more than twice the federal minimum.

The 2.7% increase will bring Colorado’s minimum wage to $14.81 from $14.42 — a 39-cent difference. Colorado’s minimum wage is updated annually based on the consumer price index, which measures fluctuations in the price of essentials like food, gas, and housing costs. Before 2007, the state’s minimum wage matched the federal minimum of $7.25.

Not all municipalities will have the same minimum wage in 2025, however, since state law allows local governments to set a higher minimum wage. The city and county of Denver, the city of Edgewater, Boulder County, and the city of Boulder will all have a higher minimum wage as of Jan. 25, with Denver having the highest at $18.81.

Workers whose wages include tips have a different minimum salary, which will increase to $11.79 from $11.40 in Colorado in 2025.

Compared to other states, Colorado’s minimum wage ranked eighth highest in the country in 2024 — ninth when counting Washington D.C. With 20 other states experiencing a minimum wage increase in 2025, the increase to $14.81 will bump Colorado down to 12th on the list in 2025.

Twenty states — including neighboring Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Kansas — will continue to match the $7.25 minimum wage in 2025, according to a November Paycom report.