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Denver sets $18.81/hour minimum wage for 2025

THE AUDITOR’S OFFICE HAS RECOVERED OVER 2 MILLION DOLLARS.

the Auditor at your service

Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA, Auditor of Denver

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This January started with a new minimum wage rate: $18.81 per hour for all workers in the City and County of Denver, with a few exceptions. The increase in the minimum wage is based on the city’s annual cost-of-living adjustments and is designed to reflect changes in inflation and the cost of living in Denver. The Denver Department of Finance establishes the city’s minimum wage, and my Denver Labor team of investigators is responsible for enforcing it.

Through comprehensive wage and hour enforcement and education, my office deters wage theft, reduce the harms of poverty, and expand economic justice. However, despites our efforts and results, research I commissioned to Rutgers University shows tens of thousands of workers in the Denver metro area are paid below the minimum wage each year. Their research estimates that minimum wage violations in the Denver metro area cost underpaid workers as much as $656 million in total, while the average affected worker loses approximately $3,000.

Denver sets $18.81/hour minimum wage for 2025

My office recovers $500,000 for workers to start the year Auditor's Office Works for You

Denver sets $18.81/hour minimum wage for 2025

Industries most at risk for wage theft include construction, gig economy companies, restaurants, beauty services, valet services, home care, and businesses along Denver’s borders. Many of our wage theft cases have involved employers in the food and beverage industry who didn’t apply the tip credit correctly. The ordinance allows them to reduce their minimum wage obligation up to $3.02 per hour for qualified food and beverage workers, as long as those workers receive that amount in actual tips. To claim the full tip credit, employers must keep documentation of the tips received.

My office follows an education-first approach. You will see new bilingual advertisement informing about the minimum wage change across the Denver Metro in grocery stores, but stops, billboards, as well as online. Employers are also required by ordinance to share a bilingual work site poster, which our office provides. We also appear at various events, meet with community groups, and communicate directly with workers and business.

I understand that these changes can impact both workers and businesses, so we provide a variety of resources to ensure everyone is well-informed. Denver’s wage protections are some of the strongest in the United States, and we want to get the word out that we are here to help.