Colorado’s minimum wage to increase in 2023
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado's minimum wage is set to increase again. Starting Sunday, January 1, 2023 all employers in Colorado are required to pay workers who don't receive tips at least $13 and 65 cents an hour. This is the 16th straight year in a row that Colorado's minimum wage has increased.
Colorado Springs Economist, Tatiana Bailey says upping the minimum wage is positive, but will likely have no major impact on a majority of workers. That's because most businesses in Colorado Springs and across Southern Colorado already pay their employees more.
Bailey said El Paso County's average wage is well above $13 and 65 cents an hour. Most of the jobs available to El Paso County workers right now range from $15 to $20 an hour.
“We are technically more expensive than the average us city, and that does not at all surprise me,” said Bailey.
The most recent federal data shows Colorado's cost of living is five percent above the national average.
Bailey said the minimum wage increase could impact consumers. According to Bailey, companies currently paying less than the minimum requirement could result in higher prices for shoppers.
“Potentially, it could impact some of our distributors, may have to increase their prices in order to pay folks that work in their warehouse or that are delivering goods to us,” said the Co-owner of Bread and Butter Aubrey Day.
Colorado is one of 23 states that will increase the minimum wage in 2023.
