Denver city leaders seek to educate workers, employers on new minimum wage increase
Denver, which has one of the highest minimum wages in the country, is working to educate workers and employers on the law surrounding the wage, which just increased to $19.29 and $16.27 for tipped workers on Jan. 1.
Denver Labor and the Denver Auditor's Office canvassed businesses on Tuesday to remind owners and workers about the recent increase.
Officials said many businesses may not be aware of the change.
"Denver has its own minimum wage, which is significantly higher than the state of Colorado's minimum wage, so it's really important that businesses within Denver know that," said Abby Kreckman, a compliance supervisor with Denver Labor.
The state's minimum wage is $15.16 per hour and $12.14 for tipped workers like waiters and waitresses. The city's minimum wage is up from $18.81 last year. That means someone working 40 hours a week will go from making around $39,125 a year before taxes to about $40,123 a year before taxes.
The rate of increase amounts to 2.56% from 2025 to 2026, down from 2.84% in 2025 and 5.8% the year before, although for tipped workers, the increase is closer to 3.04%.
"Denver leads the way with some of the strongest wage protections in the United States," Denver Auditor Timothy M. O'Brien said last year. "We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable workers and ensuring both businesses and employees know the law."
Denver was the first city in Colorado to create its own minimum wage. That city ordinance, along with state law, also mandates yearly increases in an effort to keep up with the increasing cost of living.
Despite that goal, however, multiple studies show the minimum wage isn't nearly enough to survive in the Mile High City, even when working full-time.
MIT's Living Wage Calculator shows that a single adult with no children needs to make at least $26.20 an hour, or about $54,496 per year before taxes, as a living wage in Denver. For two adults with two kids, the combined income needs to be closer to $73,236.80.
Since Denver created its own minimum wage, several other municipalities in Colorado have passed their own, including Edgewater, which just rose to $18.17 for untipped workers, Boulder, which just went up to $16.82, and Boulder County, although only in unincorporated areas, which just went up to $16.82.
Several cities, counties, and states around the country also saw minimum wage increases go into effect. Denver's is now among the highest in the country, surpassing that of San Francisco, and now just under that of Seattle's and neighboring communities of around $20 per hour.
Denver officials are encouraging businesses and workers to contact Denver Labor with questions about the minimum wage and to report wage theft and other violations of worker protections.