The St. Louis Living Wage Ordinance requires city contractors and tax-incentivized employers — including hotels receiving TIF or tax abatements — to pay above the Missouri minimum wage with health benefits.
Ordinance 65597 (the St. Louis Living Wage Ordinance) requires firms holding city service contracts above a threshold and recipients of significant city tax incentives — TIF, tax abatement, or LCRA financing — to pay employees a living wage indexed to the federal poverty level for a family of three, plus health benefits or a wage offset. Convention hotels and downtown developments built with public subsidy typically fall within scope. Because Missouri §285.055 preempts higher local minimum wages for private employers generally, this ordinance survives by attaching the wage to public contracts and subsidies, not to all private employment.
Contractors or subsidy recipients paying below the living wage can lose their contract or incentive, owe back pay, and be barred from future city procurement.
See how St. Louis's hotel living wage rules stack up against other locations.
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