Around New England

Rhode Island Ups Minimum Wage

March 12, 2020

The minimum wage in Rhode Island will soon be higher.

Earlier this week, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, signed a bill that will cause the state’s minimum wage to increase from $10.50 an hour to $11.50, according to the Associated Press.

The proposal passed through the state’s House of Representatives and Senate last month. 

Rhode Island’s minimum wage has increased multiple times since 2009, when the federal minimum wage increased to $7.25 an hour. Most recently, it increased from $10.10 an hour to $10.50 an hour at the beginning of 2019.

As of 2012, though, before the state began making these changes, the state’s minimum wage ($7.40) was about the same as the federal minimum wage ($7.25).

Minimum wages in other New England states include:  $12.75 in Massachusetts, $12 in Maine, $10.96 in Vermont, $10.10 in Connecticut, and $7.25 in New Hampshire.