Minimum wage in Chicago and Cook County set to increase July 1

Chicago's minimum wage will increase July 1, when it will hit $17.05 for most workers across the city.

The new minimum wage applies to most people who work for employers with at least four total employees.

It does not apply to tipped workers like restaurant servers or bartenders, who can be paid less than the full minimum wage so long as their tips make up the difference.

Tipped workers making the hourly minimum will see a slight increase to their hourly wage on Wednesday - a raise of less than 50 cents per hour. But they won't be getting more significant hourly raises after the City Council froze planned wage hikes for tipped workers earlier this year.

The city's minimum wage increases each summer by either about 2.5% or by the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. The consumer price index rose 4.2% over the year in May, meaning the minimum wage increase is not quite keeping up with inflation.

What is Chicago's minimum wage starting July 1?

The hourly minimum wage for non-tipped workers in Chicago will rise from $16.60 to $17.05 on July 1. The minimum wage applies to all employers with at least four employees.

All domestic workers must be paid at least the full $17.05 minimum wage, regardless of the size of their employer.

What happened to the minimum wage for tipped workers?

The minimum wage for tipped workers will increase to $12.96 on July 1, a very slight increase from the current hourly minimum of $12.62. Tipped workers whose tips do not bring them up to the full minimum wage must be paid the difference by their employer.

In 2023, Chicago became the largest U.S. city to independently move to phase out the tipped or subminimum wage. Aldermen back then approved a plan to give tipped workers raises each year that would have brought them up to the full minimum wage in 2028.

The move was championed by some advocates as a win for workers who, they said, deal with unpredictable earnings and sometimes contend with harassment from customers in order to make a living. The deal was a major political win for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson early in his term.

But this year, aldermen froze the annual raises amid pushback from the restaurant industry. Opponents to the raises have argued the raises were untenable for restaurants, arguing the increased labor costs were contributing to closures and lost hours for restaurant workers.

After Johnson vetoed a City Council plan that would have struck down the annual raises, aldermen made a new plan that would delay the planned wage hikes for two years for larger restaurants and four years for smaller ones. The plan was approved by a veto-proof majority in May.

Tipped workers making minimum wage will still see their hourly base pay increase very slightly on July 1 because their hourly minimum wage is pegged at a percentage of the general minimum wage, which itself is increasing. But the earliest they will see the hourly minimum increase significantly again is the summer of 2028.

What is the minimum wage in the suburbs?

Cook County's minimum wage is also set to increase July 1. It will go up to $15.40 an hour for most workers and $9.25 an hour for tipped workers.

Not all municipalities within Cook County follow the county's minimum wage ordinance, however, because they are permitted to pass their own minimum wage laws.

Currently, these suburbs follow Cook County's minimum wage ordinance: Barrington Hills, Berwyn, Countryside, Deerfield, Dolton, Evanston, Glencoe, Kenilworth, McCook, Northfield, Oak Brook, Oak Park, Phoenix, Skokie, University Park, Western Springs, Wilmette and Winnetka.

Outside Cook County, the statewide minimum wage is $15 an hour for non-tipped workers and $9 an hour for tipped workers. There has not been a statewide minimum wage increase since January 1, 2025, when the hourly minimum hit $15.

____

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published June 29, 2026 at 10:19 PM.