What Is Connecticut’s New Minimum Wage?

Right now, the minimum wage is $15 an hour. Beginning on January 1, 2024, Connecticut’s Minimum Wage will become indexed to the Employment Cost Index and Will Adjust Annually.

What does that mean?

It means that, starting on January 1, 2024, and occurring annually each January 1 thereafter, the state’s minimum wage will be adjusted according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s calculation of the employment cost index for the twelve-month period ending on June 30 of the preceding year. Connecticut is the only state to index the minimum wage to the ECI.

What is the Employment Cost Index?

The Empoyment Cost Index (ECI), is a federally calculated number by the U.S. Department of Labor, that represents national trends in hourly wages and the economy.

For a more detailed discussion of the ECI, read this PDF.

Simply put:

The ECI is a number that the Department of Labor calculates quarterly. It’s considered an economic indicator that is derived from many trends and analyses that the Department conducts.

The minimum wage in Connecticut will increase in step with the trends of the ECI.

For example, Connecticut Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo reports that the employment cost index (ECI) increased by 4.6% over the twelve-month period ending on June 30, 2023, accounting for a $0.69 increase to the state’s minimum wage that will become effective on January 1, 2024.

The minimum wage was $15/hr, but the ECI increased by 4.6% in 2023… so… the new minimum wage in January 2024 will be $15/hr + 4.6% which is $0.69… For a grand total of $15.69/hr…

And this will continue as Connecticut’s policy going forward.

The law requires the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor to review this percentage change and then announce any adjustments by October 15 of each year. The minimum wage adjustments become effective on the next January 1.