The city of Denver’s hourly minimum wage will rise to $19.29 on Jan. 1, up 48 cents, the city announced Thursday.

The 2.56% pay raise from $18.81 for the city’s lowest-paid workers makes the city’s minimum wage one of the highest in the nation. Cities including Seattle, currently at $20.29 , and West Hollywood, at $19.65 , have been higher and also are set to increase next year. A few smaller cities in Washington state are above $20 an hour.

The pay raise is part of the city’s commitment “to doing everything we can to make Denver more affordable,” Mayor Mike Johnston said in a statement.

But it’s also due to the city adopting its own local minimum wage, which was added to the municipal code in 2019. It rises each year as long as there’s inflation in the Consumer Price Index. Local

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