The Alaska minimum wage will increase from $11.73 to $11.91 in 2025. In 2014, Alaska voters passed a ballot initiative to annually adjust the minimum wage for inflation.
Alaska Statutes require the Alaska minimum wage to be adjusted using the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers in the Anchorage metropolitan area (Anchorage CPI-U) for the preceding calendar year. The “Urban Alaska CPI-U,” the current name for what was formerly titled the “Anchorage CPI-U,” rose 1.5 percent in 2023 (climbing from 256.423 in 2022 to 260.372 in 2023). Applying that percentage increase to the current minimum wage of $11.73 produces a new minimum wage of $11.91, effective Jan. 1, 2025.
The Alaska minimum wage applies to all hours worked in a pay period, regardless of how the employee is paid—whether by time, piece, commission, or otherwise. All actual hours worked in a pay period multiplied by the Alaska minimum wage are the minimum an employer can compensate an employee for unless the employer can clearly show that a specific exemption exists.
Salaried Employees who are exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements under Alaska Statutes as bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees must maintain a salary that is equivalent to two times the minimum wage for the first 40 hours worked. Meaning effective Jan. 1, 2025, the minimum salary for these workers will increase from $938.40/week or $48,796.80 per year in 2024 to $952.80 per week or $49,545.60 per year.
Additionally, due to the passage of Ballot Measure 1 on July 1, 2025, the Alaska minimum wage will increase to $13 and will subsequently increase to $14 on July 1, 2026, and $15 on July 1st, 2027. Thereafter, the minimum wage shall be adjusted annually for inflation.
More information about Alaska’s wage laws can be found at: https://labor.alaska.gov/lss/whhome.htm.