Alaska minimum wage to increase to $10.85 in 2023

Oct. 20, 2022
No. 22-17

JUNEAU — The Alaska minimum wage will increase from $10.34 to $10.85 in 2023. Voters passed a ballot initiative in 2014 to adjust the minimum wage annually for inflation.

Alaska Statute 23.10.065(a) requires 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 Anchorage CPI-U increased 4.9 percent in 2021. As a result, the minimum wage will rise from $10.34 to $10.85 effective Jan. 1, 2023.

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 is the very least an employee can be compensated by an employer unless the employer can clearly show that a specific exemption exists.