Alaska's minimum wage hits $14 — the raise voters ordered

Alaska's minimum wage climbed to $14 an hour on July 1 — the payoff of a promise voters made to themselves in November 2024, when they passed Ballot Measure 1. This is the second of three annual dollar raises they voted for: $13 last year, $14 now, $15 next July, with inflation adjustments after that.

The same measure did more than raise wages. It also guaranteed paid sick leave to every worker in the state — one hour earned for every 30 worked, capped at 56 hours a year at larger employers and 40 at those with fewer than 15 workers. Both changes are now law statewide.

A few details that matter: Alaska allows no tip credit, so tipped restaurant, hotel, and processing workers get the full $14 base on top of tips. And the raise quietly lifts the salary floor for exempt employees to $1,120 a week — employers who don't adjust could owe overtime.

The costs land unevenly. As the nonprofit Foraker Group noted in its compliance guidance, small nonprofits and seasonal businesses feel both the wage hike and the new sick-leave rules most acutely, since they have the thinnest margins to absorb them.