Reminder: the updated Living Wage of $14.60 per hour for the city of Santa Fe will go into effect on March 1, 2024. See the original announcement below for more information.

SANTA FE, February 12, 2024 – The City is announcing the updated Living Wage for Santa Fe will be $14.60 per hour as of March 1, 2024. The Living Wage is calculated based on the 12-month total increase of 4.05% in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Western Region for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The Living Wage for 2023 was $14.03 an hour. 

All employers within the city of Santa Fe are required to pay workers at least the Living Wage. 

In 2007, Santa Fe decided to adjust the Living Wage with the annual cost of living in order to help ensure that workers’ wages would keep pace with inflation. The term Living Wage refers to the minimum hourly wage necessary for a person to achieve a higher standard of living. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the federal minimum wage has been at $7.25 an hour since 2009. 

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the minimum wage is a critical labor standard meant to ensure a fair wage for this country’s lowest-paid workers, and the declining value of the federal minimum wage over time has contributed to the growth in U.S. income inequality. Santa Fe’s Living Wage is designed to set a higher standard than the stagnant Federal minimum wage for the lowest paid workers in the city. 

"This increase accurately reflects the increase in Consumer Price Index, but we all know it is far from being an actual living wage," said Mayor Alan Webber "If we want people who work in Santa Fe to be able to live in Santa Fe, we’re going to have to undertake a fair and thoughtful revision of the living wage to make it a real living wage."

The City’s Living Wage Ordinance states that tips may be counted toward the Living Wage requirement for workers who customarily earn $100/month or more in tips or commission. 

Click here or on image below to download the 2024 Living Wage poster.