CHARLOTTE — Mecklenburg County has raised the minimum wage for its full-time government employees to $25.53 an hour, up from $20 — a roughly 28% increase approved as part of the county’s FY2027 operating budget.
At 40 hours a week, $25.53 an hour works out to about $53,100 a year before taxes.
County materials describe the $2.5 million set aside for the floor raise as an investment aimed at giving the county’s lowest-paid full-time workers a living wage, tied in budget documents to the MIT Living Wage Calculator for Mecklenburg County. The Board of County Commissioners adopted a $2.6 billion operating budget that also includes a 3% across-the-board pay increase, performance-based raises of up to 5%, and $500 one-time salary supplements for full-time staff.
Mecklenburg began pushing its government wage floor higher several years ago. In 2019, the county raised minimum pay for full-time employees to $15 an hour and has continued stepping it up as living costs and competition for workers grew.
The $25.53 floor applies to full-time Mecklenburg County government positions. It does not change North Carolina’s private-sector minimum wage.
Reporting note: Primary sourcing is Mecklenburg County’s published FY2027 budget materials at news.mecknc.gov and budget.mecknc.gov.
