DENVER — Minimum wage is increasing around the Denver metro area starting Jan. 1, 2025.
For non-tipped workers:
- Edgewater’s minimum wage is increasing $1.50 to $16.52 per hour
- Denver’s minimum wage is increasing $0.50 to $18.81 per hour
- Unincorporated Boulder County’s minimum wage is increasing $0.88 to $16.57 per hour
Minimum wage is going to keep increasing. For example, by 2030, minimum wage in unincorporated Boulder County will be $25 per hour.
State lawmakers passed a law in 2019 that allows local governments to set their own minimum wage.
Tipped workers see a little bit less on their paychecks since they also get tips. In 2024, minimum wage for tipped workers in Edgewater is $12 per hour. In 2025, when minimum wage there goes up $1.50 for all workers, tipped workers will earn $13.50 per hour.
“Being a business owner, I definitely realize that to get quality personnel, you have to pay, you know, for those people to come and, you know, showcase their skills,” said Cody Ford, the owner of Providence at 5280.
Ford is writing the paychecks now, but he remembers when he was a server getting the paychecks.
“I didn't even worry about what my paycheck was when it was coming in because I had cash that I made every day that was the results of my work,” Ford said. “There's bad days where you're slow and you're like, ‘Man, I wish I had an hourly,’ but that's a risk reward that you take head-on when you come in to this industry.”
Increasing the minimum wage will affect everyone, including customers.
“Prices will increase as the prices of labor go up,” Ford said.
What won't change is the passion behind each pour from Cody's crew at Providence at 5280.
“If you believe that you do something you love, you never work a day in your life,” Ford said.