Around New England

New Hampshire Enters 13th Year With $7.25 Minimum Wage

January 2, 2021

The minimum wage went up to $13.50 an hour in Massachusetts in 2021, but it remained unchanged in New Hampshire.

The minimum wage in New Hampshire has stayed the same since 2009. That’s when the federal government bumped it up to $7.25 an hour, as the U.S. Department of Labor points out. That means 2021 will be the 13th year where New Hampshire has a $7.25 minimum wage.

Since then, efforts to raise the minimum wage in New Hampshire have been unsuccessful. Last year, Democrats controlled the New Hampshire House of Representatives and passed legislation to more than double the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, but the state’s Republican governor, Chris Sununu, opposes the idea, as The Nashua Telegraph points out.

Supporters of increasing the minimum wage say it helps workers. Critics of the minimum wage say it decreases the number of jobs available because it artificially increases the cost of employment.