(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that beginning on January 1, 2026, Connecticut’s minimum wage will increase from the current rate of $16.35 per hour to $16.94 per hour.
The change is required under a state law Governor Lamont signed in 2019 (Public Act 19-4) that connects the state’s minimum wage to economic indicators, specifically the percentage change in the federal employment cost index. Under that law, the minimum wage is required to be adjusted each year based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s calculation of the employment cost index for the twelve-month period ending on June 30 of the preceding year. The commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor is required to review this percentage change and announce any necessary adjustments by October 15 of each year. Those adjustments must take effect on January 1 of the following year.
Connecticut Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo reports that the employment cost index increased by 3.6% over the twelve-month period ending on June 30, 2025, accounting for a $0.59 increase to the state’s minimum wage that will become effective on January 1, 2026.
“Nobody who works full-time should have to live in poverty,” Governor Lamont said. “For too long, as the nation’s economy grew the income of the lowest earning workers has stayed flat, making already existing pay disparities even worse and preventing hardworking families from obtaining financial security. This is a fair, modest increase, and the money earned will go right back into our own economy, supporting local businesses in our communities.”
“The minimum wage was established to provide a fair, livable baseline of income for those who work,” Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz said. “This is a fair, gradual increase for workers that ensures that as the economy grows, our minimum wage grows with it – and that’s good for everyone.”
“Minimum wage increases help Connecticut’s lowest wage workers keep pace with a growing economy,” Commissioner Bartolomeo said. “Indexing minimum wage to the employment cost index helps protect the most vulnerable earners from inflation and cost increases, and it helps keeps wage gaps from widening.”
According to the Current Population Survey as calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 60% of minimum wage earners in Connecticut are women and people of color.
Continuing forward under this recently adopted law, Connecticut workers and employers can anticipate that announcements will be made by October 15 of each year declaring the change in the minimum wage that will become effective on January 1 of the approaching year.