Press Release: Colorado Minimum Wage will Increase to $15.71/hour in 2027

(DENVER) - The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE)'s Division of Labor Standards and Statistics (DLSS) announced today that Colorado's minimum wage will increase to $15.71 per hour in 2027, and $12.69 for tipped workers. $15.71 per hour is a 3.6% increase from the current minimum wage of $15.16 and a 41.5% increase from the 2019 minimum wage of $11.10.

Per the State's constitution, Colorado's minimum wage is adjusted for inflation every year using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Colorado uses the CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) to measure inflation, while the City and County of Denver uses the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). While CPI-U tracks inflation based on the spending habits of almost all urban consumers and is based on a sample that represents more than 90% of the U.S. population, CPI-W focuses specifically on urban households whose main income comes from hourly wages or clerical work and is based on a sample that represents roughly 30% of the population. CPI-W takes a narrower look at the cost-of-living directly affecting working-class earners.

Denver recently announced its 2027 local minimum wage will be $19.84. Other localities' minimum wages are set by their local ordinance. State and local minimum wages with tip credits are published at cdle.colorado.gov/dlss. DLSS will update its website as localities with higher minimum wages announce 2027 rates.

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