OMAHA, Nebraska — Nebraska’s minimum wage is going up in the new year. Starting January 1st, those earning the current wage of $12 per hour will receive $13.50.
- Nebraska voters approved an initiative in 2022 to raise the minimum wage by $1.50 per hour through 2026.
- After 2026, Nebraska’s minimum wage will be dependent on cost-of-living adjustments.
- “Everybody deserves a livable wage and, and, and minimum it needs to keep up with that, and it hasn’t unfortunately for the last 5 to 7, 10 years we have seen such small increments in pay versus what we have seen in cost of living.”
Nebraska’s minimum wage is going up in the new year. Starting January 1st, workers earning the current pay of $12 per hour will get $13.50. I’m speaking with small companies about the effects on them and our town.
Soley Joe has been working at Raygun, a clothes business, for many months. As a shift leader, she is paid $17 per hour.
“I mean, I think it’s pretty well for the work I do here,” she told me.
Joe previously worked as a barista in college at Dunkin’ Donuts for $13 an hour and Starbucks for $15 an hour.
“At the time I was like, oh my God, $15 so much money, but now I’m kind of out of school, kind of trying to figure out what to do with my life and discovering the world is kind of expensive,” Joe told me.
Nebraska voters approved an initiative in 2022 to raise the minimum wage by $1.50 per hour through 2026.
Nebraska’s minimum wage is currently $13.50 per hour, effective 2025.
Compare this to our neighboring states:
According to the US Department of Labor, Iowa and Kansas follow the federal minimum wage of $7.25. South Dakota charges $11.50. Missouri charges $12.50, whereas Colorado charges $14.42.
Even though Nebraska is toward the top of the list, small company owner Lukas Rix of Prairie in Bloom does not believe the new minimum wage is reasonable.
“It’s always been important to me that you pay your people well because you are going to get more out of them because at the end of the day money is what they’re here for,” Rix told me.
Rix built his firm with the intention of paying his staff what he considered fair, which is 20-30% more than the statutory minimum.
“Everybody deserves a livable wage and, and, and minimum it needs to keep up with that, and it hasn’t unfortunately for the last 5 to 7, 10 years we have seen such small increments in pay versus what we have seen in cost of living,” according to Rix.
After 2026, Nebraska’s minimum wage will be dependent on cost-of-living adjustments.