BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC — North Carolina’s minimum wage has remained frozen at $7.25 an hour for 17 years, leaving low‑income workers facing rising costs while the state continues to default to the federal rate set in 2009.
North Carolina is one of 20 states that has no state‑set minimum wage, meaning the federal floor automatically applies. State law also prevents cities and counties from establishing their own higher local minimum wages, even in areas where housing and transportation costs have surged.
A full‑time worker earning $7.25 an hour makes $15,080 per year before taxes, an amount that falls well below the basic cost of living in Brunswick County and every surrounding county. Housing, utilities, food, and transportation alone typically exceed $2,400–$2,900 per month for a single adult, according to multiple cost‑of‑living models.
Advocates and some lawmakers argue the stagnant wage has failed to keep pace with inflation. If the minimum wage had tracked inflation since 2009, it would be nearly $11 today. North Carolina’s Living Income Standard shows that a single adult needs $18.50 to $23.40 per hour to meet essential expenses depending on the county.
A proposal introduced in the General Assembly, House Bill 353 – The Fair Minimum Wage Act, would gradually raise the statewide minimum wage to $18.00 an hour by 2030 and then tie future increases to inflation. The bill has not passed.
Despite the unchanged legal minimum, many employers in Brunswick County and the Wilmington metro area now start workers at $13.00 to $15.00 an hour due to labor competition and rising market pressures. Still, local workers and service‑industry employees say the gap between wages and living costs continues to widen.
As the debate continues in Raleigh, North Carolina remains anchored to the same minimum wage it has had since the summer of 2009, a number unchanged even as the cost of everyday life climbs year after year.
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