Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) has signed legislation raising Virginia’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2028, marking an increase of $2.23 over the next two years.
“Today, we are putting more money in the pockets of Virginia workers,” Spanberger said. “If you work full-time in Virginia, you should be able to afford to live in Virginia. You should be able to keep up with your rent or mortgage, fill your medications, and save for your kids’ futures.”
Compared to its neighboring states, Virginia’s current minimum wage is lower than Maryland’s, which clocks in at $15 per hour, but higher than North Carolina’s, Kentucky’s, and West Virginia’s, which each have rates of $7.25, $7.25, and $8.75, respectively. Washington, D.C.’s minimum wage is $17.95 per hour.
Spanberger signed off on the two sister state House and Senate Bills, passed along party lines, that incrementally increase the state’s minimum wage each year. The bills first codify Virginia’s current minimum wage of $12.77 per hour, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2026. The bill then raises the minimum wage to $13.75 on Jan. 1, 2027, and then to $15 on Jan. 1, 2028.
The governor made raising the minimum wage a focal point of her 2025 affordability-focused gubernatorial campaign, promising to raise the pay to $15 per hour once she took office.
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But the move has been unpopular among the state’s Republican Party, with many GOP legislators and former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) voicing concerns over the years about how the move would affect Virginia’s small business owners.
Youngkin called the same $15 minimum wage proposed in 2025 “arbitrary” in his veto statement, urging the state to follow a free-market formula that corresponds to the needs of each region of the state.
“Implementing an arbitrary $15-per-hour wage mandate may not impact Northern Virginia, where economic conditions lead to historically higher wages, but this approach is detrimental for small businesses across the rest of Virginia, especially in Southwest and Southside,” Youngkin wrote last year.
“A one-size-fits-all mandate ignores the vast economic and geographic differences and undermines the ability to adapt to regional cost-of-living differences and market dynamics,” he continued.
The Virginia Republican Party slammed Spanberger’s decision on X, writing, “Democrats’ Californication of Virginia continues.”
“It is no coincidence that the states with the highest minimum wages have the worst cost of living crises,” the Virginia GOP statement read.
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The state’s Democratic Party, on the other hand, is celebrating Spanberger’s decision.
Democratic Speaker of the House of Delegates Don Scott thanked Spanberger and called the move “a long-overdue raise for all Virginians.”
