Michigan minimum wage increasing January 1 - See full increase schedule

New Michigan tipped wage law passes the house

The vote comes days before Michigan's new wage law goes into effect, which has roots in a court ruling stretching back to last year.

LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - Michigan's minimum wage is set to increase soon.

On Jan. 1, 2026, the minimum wage will increase to $13.73. It is currently $12.48 after it last increased in February.

This increase is part of a plan to bring the minimum wage to $15 an hour, which is set to happen on Jan. 1, 2027.

Tipped workers minimum wage

The bill that changed the minimum wage also set a schedule for increases to tipped worker wages:

• Jan. 1, 2026 – 40% of minimum wage
• Jan. 1, 2027 - 42% of minimum wage
• Jan. 1, 2028 - 44% of minimum wage
• Jan. 1, 2029 - 46% of minimum wage
• Jan. 1, 2030 - 48% of minimum wage
• Jan. 1, 2031 - 50% of minimum wage

The backstory:

In 2018, a ballot proposal that called for raising Michigan's minimum wage was set to go before voters.

However, the Republican-majority legislature decided that instead of allowing the initiative to go on the midterm ballot in November, it would directly adopt the proposal into law.

Then, during the lame duck session - the period of time after election day but before the new governing session took effect - the legislature watered down the proposal.

The decision was the subject of a legal case that took years to move through the court system. Eventually, the Democratic-led high court ruled the decision was unconstitutional.

What's next:

After the state hits the $15 minimum wage, each October the state treasurer will be responsible for calculating an adjusted minimum wage for the next year. The new rates will be posted by Nov. 1 each year. 

This will begin in October 2027 to determine how much the minimum wage will increase in 2028. The adjustment must increase the minimum wage by the rate of inflation.

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