California’s statewide minimum wage effective Jan. 1, 2026 is $16.90/hour. If the IFR survives a court challenge—and if a large share of H-2A job opportunities land in entry-level classifications, as expected—many California employers may find that the operative wage floor for a substantial portion of H-2A roles is effectively $16.90, not north of $19.97, as the AEWR certainly would have been under the FLS in 2026. That is a major swing for any employer, especially those considering a multi-crew program. Arizona Arizona’s 2025 AEWR was $17.04/hour. Arizona’s new AEWR is $15.32, and the 2026 minimum wage is $15.15/hour. After applying the ACA of $2.10, the minimum wage becomes the floor for Level 1 H-2A workers. The spread is smaller than California’s,
but it is still meaningful. In labor-intensive crops where margins are tight and harvesting windows are unforgiving, the difference between “H-2A is viable” and “H-2A is a bridge too far” often comes down to a couple of dollars an hour. When multiplied across hundreds of workers and thousands of hours, the savings really add up. Colorado Colorado’s 2025 AEWR was $17.84/hour. Colorado’s 2026 AEWR is $16.28, and the minimum wage is $15.16/hour. Again, after applying the ACA, the minimum wage is the wage floor for H-2A workers. The point is not that every employer in every state will suddenly pay minimum wage for H-2A workers. The point is that the wage structure has shifted enough that a program once dismissed as
11 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com January – March 2026
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