These changes are already set. Each takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, and each one has a named body behind it.
California minimum wage: $17.40 an hour. Certified by the state Department of Finance on July 31 under California’s yearly inflation adjustment. The minimum salary for exempt workers becomes $72,384.
Connecticut minimum wage: $17.48 an hour, up 54 cents. Set under the state’s 2019 law that ties the wage to the federal employment cost index, which rose 3.2% in the year ending June 30.
Washington minimum wage: $17.73 an hour, up 3.5%. Set by the state Department of Labor and Industries from the consumer price index for wage earners.
Social Security: up 3.6%. Set by formula and announced by the Social Security Administration on Oct. 14. Average retirement checks rise about $75 a month. Medicare’s Part B premium, which comes out of most checks, has not been announced for 2027.
Payroll tax cap: $192,300. Workers pay Social Security tax on wages up to this amount. It is up from $184,500, per SSA. If you earn above the old cap, more of your pay is taxed next year.
None of these raises is a gift. Each is an automatic adjustment set by formula, catching up to costs and wages that already rose.
BTP’s cost ledger tracks household price changes with the body that set them. Corrections and updates are logged on the page.