In this wage and hour Law Firm Publication, Fisher & Phillips LLP addressed the recent minimum wage hikes in several US cities and states. On November 4, 2014, voters in San Francisco, California voted to raise the city's minimum wage from $10.74 to $11.05 per hour on January 1, 2015. The minimum wage will continue to increase to $12.25 in May 2015 and eventually to $15.00 in 2018. San Francisco joins Seattle, Washington which earlier this year approved a gradual increase of the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour, the highest rate in the country. On November 4, several other cities and states also voted to increase their minimum wage rates, including Oakland, California (from $9.00 to $12.25 per hour by March 2015), Alaska (from $7.75 to $9.75 by 2016), Arkansas (from $6.25 to $8.50 by 2017), Nebraska (from $7.25 to $9.00 in 2016) and South Dakota (from $7.25 to $8.50 by 2015).