Virginia's Minimum Wage Rises to $13.75 on Jan. 1: What It Means for Virginia Beach Workers

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — Virginia's minimum wage climbs to $13.75 an hour on January 1, 2027, a raise of 98 cents for the lowest-paid workers from the Oceanfront to Greenbrier. It is the first step of a new state law that takes the floor to $15 in 2028, and it lands right as holiday hiring winds down and employers set their pay scales for the new year.

One state number covers all of Hampton Roads, it rises twice in two years, and after 2028 it starts tracking inflation.

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📍 At a Glance

Today's rate	$12.77 an hour, in effect since January 1, 2026
January 1, 2027	$13.75 an hour
January 1, 2028	$15.00 an hour
2029 and after	Adjusted every January for inflation
The law	HB1 and SB1, signed April 9, 2026
Who sets the yearly rate	Virginia's Commissioner of Labor and Industry, starting with the 2029 rate

💵 What the New Law Does

Governor Abigail Spanberger signed the companion bills, HB1 from Delegate Jeion Ward and SB1 from Senator L. Louise Lucas, on April 9. The governor's announcement lays out the schedule: $13.75 on January 1, 2027, then $15 on January 1, 2028. "If you work full time in Virginia, you should be able to afford to live in Virginia," Spanberger said at the signing.

The updated wage statute also restarts automatic raises. Starting with 2029, the state rate moves up each January by the rise in the consumer price index, and the state must announce each new figure by October 1 of the year before. The yearly adjustment can never cut the rate.

What It Means for a Hampton Roads Paycheck

For someone working 40 hours a week at the floor, the January raise works out to about $2,040 more over a year, before taxes. The 2028 step adds roughly another $2,600 on top of that.

The rate is the same in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk. None of those cities has a minimum wage of its own, so the state figure is the legal floor on both sides of the Elizabeth River and out to the Peninsula.

A few rules work differently. Employers running an approved on-the-job training program of up to 90 days can pay trainees 75 percent of the state minimum for that period. Tipped workers in restaurants and bars can be paid partly through tips, but the cash wage plus tips still has to reach the state minimum. A separate 2026 bill, HB20, brings farm workers under the state minimum wage as well.

⚠️ Don't Mistake the Floor for the Going Rate

Plenty of local employers already pay well above $13.75. Hampton Roads Transit, for one, advertised $23 an hour for operators at its career fair this month. For most job seekers, the new floor matters less as a target than as a baseline: any offer that only just clears it in 2027 is the bottom of the market, not the middle.

If you're paid close to the minimum now, check your first pay stub of January. The new rate applies to hours worked starting January 1, 2027.

🔎 Where to Look for Better-Paying Hourly Work

The fastest way to beat the floor is to apply where demand is steady all year: health care, logistics, the port, hotels and public employers. Search by role, then compare posted pay before you apply.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Virginia's minimum wage right now?

$12.77 an hour, through December 31, 2026.

When does it go to $13.75?

Friday, January 1, 2027. It applies to hours worked on or after that date.

When does Virginia reach $15 an hour?

January 1, 2028. After that, the rate is adjusted each January for inflation.

Does Virginia Beach have a higher local minimum wage?

No. Virginia Beach and the other Hampton Roads cities use the state rate.

Can a new employee be paid less than the minimum?

Only in an approved training program of 90 days or less, where the floor is 75 percent of the state minimum. After that, the full rate applies.

Where can I report unpaid minimum wage?

The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry handles wage complaints for workers in the state.

Get Ahead of the January Raise

New year, new pay scales. Create a free LocalJobPage account to save searches and get alerts when Virginia Beach employers post hourly openings, and browse the Career Center for pay and training guides by field.

Employers: setting 2027 wages and need to fill shifts? Post your openings on LocalJobPage and reach Hampton Roads job seekers directly.