Virginia’s minimum wage increasing to $12.41 in 2025, advocates say it’s not enough

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Some workers in Virginia are getting a raise, thanks to a law passed by lawmakers over four years ago.

“This is a step in the right direction by realizing the impact of inflation on people’s lives,” Levi Goren, Research Director at the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, told 8News.

On January 1st, 2025, the minimum wage in Virginia will go from $12 per hour to $12.41 per hour as the result of a bill passed by the 2020 Virginia General Assembly requiring the state’s minimum wage to be adjusted for inflation.

“The minimum wage increase this January will put about $852 in the pockets of Virginia workers who are paid that minimum,” said Goren.

The raise comes amidst an intense debate in Virginia over the minimum wage. In March, Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed bills that would have raised the minimum wage to $15/hour by 2026. In his veto statement, Youngkin said, “The free market for salaries and wages works.”

However, Goren says a minimum wage of at least $15/hour is necessary going forward.

“The $12.41, while a modest improvement, is not enough to make ends meet in Virginia even for a single person who is not supporting any children,” Goren said. “The [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] living wage project found that supporting a single person in Virginia costs an average of $24 an hour.”

Now that the 2020 law is in effect, Virginia’s minimum wage will continue to rise with inflation in the years to come, even if lawmakers don’t agree on raising the minimum wage to $15/hour.

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