Casino Staff to Benefit from New Jersey 2026 Minimum Wage Increase

New Jersey is starting 2026 with a significant 43% increase in the minimum hourly wage. This will raise the minimum wage to $15.92, which is expected to have a positive impact on many workers in the state’s extensive hospitality and gaming industries.

Casino Workers and Others to See a Significant Wage Increase

While the state announced the minimum hourly wage increase, some workers will see their minimum wages remain below that level. Under state law, seasonal employees and those working for employers with fewer than six workers must be paid at least $15.23, an increase from $14.53 in 2025. The minimum wage for these workers will continue to increase through 2028, when it will match the rate paid to most workers.

Meanwhile, farm workers are subject to a longer phase-in schedule. Their wage floor will increase by 80% to $14.20 on Thursday, but will not align with the minimum wage for most workers until 2030.

Casino workers fall into the tipped workers category. Their minimum wage will rise to $6.05 an hour. However, employers will still be required to make up the difference if a tipped worker’s total earnings, including gratuities, fall below the $15.92 minimum wage.

Conditions for New Jersey Casino Workers Seem to Be Improving

The new wage increase comes thanks to a state law that requires annual inflation adjustments to salaries. However, while this improvement is pushed by the local government, workers have also recently been fighting to have improved working conditions. In the last days of 2025, for example, Atlantic City casino staff asked New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to put pressure on the state’s lawmakers to vote on a bill that would stop indoor smoking on casino floors.

Changes like this should have a positive impact on the state’s casino sector. According to a 2024 report by the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism (LIGHT) and the Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ), Atlantic City’s casino industry continues to drive New Jersey’s economy. 

The industry is one of the region’s largest employers and a critical source of tax revenue supporting New Jersey’s most vulnerable residents. In Fiscal Year 2024 alone, it contributed a record $572 million to the Casino Revenue Fund.

The contributions benefit the state’s most vulnerable populations by providing $541 million for housing for individuals with developmental disabilities. Additionally, $17 million went to community-based programs for seniors, $5 million for pharmaceutical assistance, and the remaining $4 million was allocated for personal assistance services.

New Jersey’s minimum wage ranks among the highest nationwide, trailing only Washington, California, andConnecticut. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., holds the top spot in the US at $17.95 per hour.