Albuquerque councilors vote to raise minimum wage to $15

A full-time worker paid Albuquerque’s minimum wage would go from about $24,960 a year today to $31,200 by 2029, before taxes, under the City Council’s new ordinance. The 5-4 vote on June 1 approved O-26-33 and set the city on a three-year climb from $12 an hour to $13 in 2027, $14 in 2028 and $15 in 2029, with annual inflation-based increases starting in 2030.

The change reaches deepest into food service, retail, hospitality and other low-wage jobs across Bernalillo County, where paychecks often sit closest to the floor set by city hall. The ordinance also cut the tipped minimum wage from 60% to 50% of the base wage, and it extends the same annual percentage increases to city employees who earn less than $80,000 a year. For a worker putting in 40 hours a week, the phased increase means annual earnings of about $27,040 in 2027 and $29,120 in 2028 before reaching $31,200 in 2029.

Council Chambers at Albuquerque City Hall filled with about 70 speakers during a long, heated meeting that spilled into the lobby for some attendees, while two people were removed from the debate. Roughly 40 speakers backed the wage increase and about 30 opposed it. Support came from the ordinance’s original sponsors, Tammy Fiebelkorn, Joaquín Baca, Nichole L. Rogers and Stephanie Telles, along with Mayor Tim Keller’s administration. Fiebelkorn argued that Albuquerque workers make about 20% less than the national average while rents are about 25% higher, and she said two full-time minimum-wage jobs still do not cover a two-bedroom apartment in the city.

The council softened the original plan before approving it. The first version would have jumped straight to $15 in 2027 and tied future increases to both inflation and housing costs. The final ordinance removed the Fair Market Rent link and kept Consumer Price Index-based adjustments only. It also came with housing data that sharpened the stakes: the ordinance text said Albuquerque’s two-bedroom Fair Market Rent rose 56% from 2021 to 2026 while the minimum wage rose 26%, and a 2024 Albuquerque Region Housing Needs Assessment found 52% of renters here are cost-burdened.

Opponents Dan Champine, Brook Bassan, Dan Lewis and Renée Grout voted no, warning that the increase could squeeze small businesses already juggling payroll, rent, insurance and supplies. Business owners and industry representatives said the higher wage floor could force some employers to raise prices or cut hours, while supporters said local workers need the extra income to keep up with groceries, rent and other basics. The vote leaves Albuquerque with a higher wage standard than before, but the next three years will show how sharply that policy reshapes paychecks, staffing and prices in neighborhoods from the West Side to the International District.