Florida has been raising its minimum wage $1 a year since 2021, with a clear path to go from $10 an hour to $15.
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, the state reached its $15 per hour minimum wage goal.
As the cost of housing and general living expenses rise in price around Miami, the raise in the minimum wage may make it easier for some to get by. But what’s it doing to the restaurant industry?
MORE: Thousands of Miami-Dade workers could drop from $22 an hour to $15 under new law
Here’s what to know about Florida raising its minimum wage again:
As of Wednesday, Sept. 30, Florida has raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour.In November 2020, voters in the state approved an amendment that increased the minimum wage by $1 per hour every year, changing it from $10 in 2021 to $15 in 2026.For future years, minimum wage increases will be adjusted annually for inflation. The next wage will be calculated on Sept. 30, 2027, and take effect on Jan. 1, 2028.At no point can a tipped employee leave the job making less than $15 an hour. When they’ve made enough tips that it pushes them over $15 an hour, then their hourly wage becomes $11.98 an hour. That’s an increase from the $10.98 an hour tipped employees were making last year.How does a minium wage increase affect restaurants?
The “significant increase in labor costs” has been a “significant burden” in Miami-area restaurants, said Samantha Padgett, the vice president of government relations and general counsel for the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association.
“It hasn’t just been the labor line — of course, food costs have gone up, and transportation and fuel costs have gone up,” Padgett said. “Credit card processing costs have gone up, and all of these things combined together to make the margins very slim and very, very challenging.
According to Padgett, some restaurants have moved to automated or counter ordering to offset the additional costs this minimum wage increase brings. Others have decreased their operating hours or limited menus. Some have even started a service fee attached to dining.
“Restaurants and stores operate on very small margins to begin with, so there’s not a whole lot of room there to play with,” Padgett said. “It doesn’t take much before it starts to cause them to have to look at the bottom line and see how they absorb the cost.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2026 at 4:40 PM.
Miami Herald
Amaia Gavica is the Miami Herald’s “Surviving Miami” reporter, keeping an eye on the topics that make it challenging to live here, including traffic, affordability and those daily irritations we all go through. She has reported in several states and earned her degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.
