On the first day of 2022, the minimum wage in Arizona increased by 65 cents to $12.80 per hour. Overtime wages, to be paid for any hours worked over the standard 40-hour work week, are set at a minimum of 1.5 times the standard hourly rate. That brings the minimum wage for overtime hours in Arizona to $19.20 an hour.
By an Arizona state law known as the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act, the state’s minimum wage increases each year to match the rise in the Consumer Price Index. This is meant to allow workers in Arizona a minimum standard of living by earning wages that rise with household expenses such as food, rent and utilities.
Arizona’s 2022 hourly minimum wage is $5.55 higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. In cases where the state and federal minimums differ in this way, the higher wage prevails for employers within the state.
The federal minimum wage dates to 1938, when Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. This law set a federal minimum of 25 cents per hour for workers engaged in interstate commerce. The last increase occurred in 2009, bringing the federal rate to $7.25.
Working for the federal minimum wage, a full-time worker will earn $15,080 over a year. In 2022, the federal poverty guidelines set an annual income of $27,750 as the official poverty line for a family of four.
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