The cost of living keeps climbing, but the minimum wage is holding steady in Cook County. According to a recent notice from the Cook County Commission on Human Rights, effective July 1, 2025, workers in the area will see no increase to the mandatory hourly earnings, non-tipped employees will continue to earn $15.00 per hour, and their tipped counterparts, $9.00.
Compliance with the Cook County Minimum Wage Ordinance ("MWO") is a must for local businesses, and employees over 18 who put in at least two hours of work for an employer in the county during any 14 days, are protected under this rule furthermore, the ordinance applies across the board, to part-timers, full-timers, those salaried, and staff who earn tips, as long as the businesses they work for either operate a facility in the county or have been issued a business license by Cook County officials. The county's minimum wage rate takes the lead when it outpaces both the federal and Illinois state minimum wages, using a Consumer Price Index (CPI) determined rate, but this year, changes on that front have not been triggered.
While the ordinance itself has built-in stipulations to adjust the minimum wage annually, Cook County's calculation is paused whenever local unemployment rates rise above 8.5 percent, but as the rates haven't peaked to that level, the adjustments remain, for now, a non-factor. Workers who suspect they're being shortchanged need to check with their municipal laws first, as some locales may set their own minimum wage rates before deferring to the county's regulations.
