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Data: National Employment Law Project; Map: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

Missouri workers will start 2026 with a pay bump when the state's minimum wage reaches $15 on Jan. 1.

Why it matters: The increase boosts pay not only for minimum wage workers but also for employees slightly above the floor as businesses adjust their wage ladders.

By the numbers: Missouri's minimum wage will rise from $13.75 to $15 an hour on Jan. 1, the final step in the voter-approved phase-in, according to the National Employment Law Project. 

Tipped workers will earn $7.50 an hour before tips. 

Missouri and Nebraska are the two states crossing the $15 threshold at the start of 2026.

The latest: Lawmakers who sought to scale back the 2024 ballot measure succeeded this year.

A follow-up bill removed future inflation indexing that would have increased the wage beyond 2026, while leaving the scheduled jump to $15 intact.

Worker advocates argued that removing inflation adjustments will weaken the wage's value as costs continue to rise, but lawmakers framed the rollback as a way to give employers more predictability.

The big picture: For the first time, more U.S. workers in 2026 will live in states with minimum wages of $15 or higher than in states still tied to the federal $7.25 floor.

Missouri's minimum wage hits $15 on Jan. 1

Missouri's minimum wage jumps to $15 on Jan. 1, boosting pay for hundreds of thousands of workers statewide.

Missouri workers will start 2026 with a pay bump when the state&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="minimum wage" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2025/07/01/minimum-wage-san-francisco-los-angeles" data-vars-content-id="251ffdae-5a40-44b7-a56c-0ca6c319f4fc" data-vars-headline="Missouri&#x27;s minimum wage hits $15 on Jan. 1" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2025/07/01/minimum-wage-san-francisco-los-angeles" target="_self">minimum wage</a> reaches $15 on Jan. 1.Why it matters: The increase boosts pay not only for minimum wage workers but also for employees slightly above the floor as businesses adjust their wage ladders.

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A line chart that tracks the Nasdaq Composite daily from Jan. 2 to April 15, 2026. The index opened at 23,235.63, fell to a low of 20,794.64 on March 30, then rebounded to a period high of 24,015.928 on April 15. It declined through late March before recovering sharply in April.

Nasdaq Composite index

Data: Financial Modeling Prep; Chart: Emily Peck/Axios

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A column chart that shows the number of S&P 500 companies discussing quantifiable AI impact each quarter from Q1 2023 to Q1 2026. Mentions rose from 18 to 122, with dips to 28 in Q4 2023 and 49 in Q4 2024 before accelerating through 2025.

S&P 500 companies discussing quantifiable AI impact

Data: Morgan Stanley; Chart: Emily Peck/Axios

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A line chart that tracks the S&P 500 daily from Feb. 27 to April 14, 2026. The index opened at 6,878.88, fell to a period low of 6,343.72 on March 30, then rebounded to a high of 6,964.23 on April 14. It declined through late March before recovering in April.

S&P 500  

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Why stocks surged to a new record

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