In 2025, Illinois raised its statewide minimum wage to $15 per hour for most adult workers. This meant putting it well above the federal floor rate of $7.25 per hour. However, actual pay rules on the ground drastically vary by age, tips, and whether someone works in a city with its own higher wage or not. This is applicable to urban areas especially like Chicago.
Illinois Minimum Wage
From the midnight hour on 1 January 2025, the standard minimum wage in Illinois was set at $15 per hour for workers aged 18 and over by the Illinois Department of Labor. Employers that do not fall under a local higher wage ordinance were required to pay at least this amount to covered, non‑exempt employees by legal requirement.
Parallely, while Federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act still sets a nationwide minimum of $7.25 an hour, Illinois employers now, must still follow the higher state rate as local mandates supersede Federal ones.
This means that for most Illinois workers, the practical minimum is the $15.00 state rate rather than the federal minimum floor assigned across the US.
The Illinois Minimum Wage - Why it Matters
The $15 rate is the endpoint of a multi‑year schedule approved in 2019 that steadily increased wages from $8.25 to $15 by 2025. This schedule was framed by lawmakers as a way to give workers more predictable income growth while giving employers time to adapt their payroll costs.
For workers, the higher floor can help with basic costs like rent, transport, and food, especially in a state where living expenses are higher in metro/urban areas than in rural regions. For businesses, especially small ones, it raises labor costs but can also reduce turnover and support local spending power.
City and County Minimum Wages Across Illinois
Several local governments in Illinois set their own minimum wages above the statewide rate, with Chicago being the most prominent example.
Snapshot: State vs Key Local Rates
| Area / jurisdiction | Standard minimum (non‑tipped adults) | Tipped minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois statewide | $15.00/hour | $9.00/hour (60 per cent of state rate, if tips make up the difference) | It applies where no higher local law exists |
| City of Chicago (July 2025) | $16.60/hour | $12.62/hour | Applies to most employers with 4 or more employees in Chicago |
| Cook County (outside Chicago, 2025) | $15.00/hour (no July 1 increase) | Typically aligned with state tipped minimums unless local ordinance specifies otherwise | County minimum not above state rate in 2025 |
Chicago’s minimum wage increases annually on 1 July based on a consumer price index formula (CPI), as long as unemployment conditions do not pause the increase. In 2025, that mechanism raised Chicago’s standard minimum, although meagre, from $16.20 to $16.60 per hour.
Tipped, Youth, And Small‑Employer Rules
The law in the State of Illinois allows a reduced cash wage for tipped workers as long as the tips bring the total hourly pay up to at least the full applicable minimum wage.
The state generally permits employers of tipped staff to pay 60 percent of the standard minimum wage in direct wages, which equates to $9 per hour at the $15 statewide rate, as long as the above rule is adhered to.
There are also separate provisions for younger workers and certain learners. Employers can apply to the Illinois Department of Labor for permission to pay sub‑minimum rates to learners and some workers with disabilities. But understandably so, those licenses are limited and subject to heavy regulation.
Minimum Wage by Industry: What Really Changes
Illinois does not publish a separate state minimum wage chart by specific types of industry in the way some sector‑specific wage orders do. There are certain categories of workers, however, who have distinct rules within general labor standards.
The key dividing lines are usually between:
- Non‑tipped hourly workers, who must receive at least the full state or local minimum wage.
- Tipped employees, such as restaurant servers, who can receive a lower cash wage if tips legally make up the difference.
- Youth, learners, and some program‑based positions, where employers may be allowed lower rates under licenses or specific programs.
Certain industries, such as hospitality or food service, are more likely to rely on tipped wage rules or youth employment programs, which changes how the minimum wage plays out in practice even when the theoretical headline rate is the same.
A Brief History of Illinois Minimum Wage Increases
The State of Illinois kept its minimum wage fixed at $8.25 per hour. This was the case for many years before lawmakers approved a phased schedule of increases finally in 2019.
That schedule has raised the wage in steps until it reached $15 in 2025. This places Illinois among a more forward group of states with the highest statewide wage minimums in the country!
Along the way, some cities and counties, especially Chicago (and the corresponding Cook County), moved faster by adopting local ordinances that pushed minimums higher and tied them to rising inflation. This created a layered system in which a worker’s effective minimum wage depends not only on state law but also on city boundaries and employer size.
| Year | Illinois Minimum Wage (per hour) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $15.00 | Effective January 1. |
| 2024 | $14.00 | |
| 2023 | $13.00 | |
| 2022 | $12.00 | |
| 2021 | $11.00 | |
| 2020 | $10.00 | Rate increased from $9.25 on July 1, 2020. |
| 2019 | $8.25 | |
| 2018 | $8.25 | |
| 2017 | $8.25 | |
| 2016 | $8.25 | |
| 2015 | $8.25 | |
| 2014 | $8.25 | |
| 2013 | $8.25 | |
| 2012 | $8.25 | |
| 2011 | $8.25 | |
| 2010 | $8.25 | Rate increased from $8.00 on July 1, 2010. |
| 2009 | $8.00 | Rate increased from $7.75 on July 1, 2009. |
| 2008 | $7.75 | Rate increased from $7.50 on July 1, 2008. |
| 2007 | $7.50 | Rate increased from $6.50 on July 1, 2007. |
| 2006 | $6.50 | |
| 2005 | $6.50 |
FAQs
1. What is the minimum wage in Illinois in 2025?
The state minimum wage for most workers aged 18 and above is $15 per hour. This came into effect from 1 January 2025.
2. Is the Illinois minimum wage higher in Chicago than in the rest of Illinois?
This is almost a given, considering Chicago’s standard minimum wage is $16.60 per hour as of 1 July 2025. This is obviously higher than the $15 statewide rate due to cost-of-living and other important socio-economic factors.
3. What is the minimum wage for tipped workers in Illinois?
For 2025, employers can pay tipped workers $9 per hour in direct wages at the state level. This is acceptable only as long as tips raise total pay to at least the full applicable minimum wage.
4. Where can employers and workers check the official Illinois minimum wage regulations?
Current Illinois minimum wage requirements and FAQs are available on the Illinois Department of Labor’s Minimum Wage Law page. You can also find its minimum wage and overtime FAQs. Federal state‑by‑state data is listed on the U.S. Department of Labor’s minimum wage map.