Atrium Health to Raise Minimum Wage to $20

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist will raise its minimum hourly wage by $1.15 to $20 in 2027, as part of a broader Advocate Health compensation increase.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Nursing Jobs

Atrium Health to Raise Minimum Wage to $20

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Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, the largest private employer in the Triad, will raise its minimum hourly wage by $1.15 to $20 in 2027. The 6.1% increase is part of a $1.24 billion compensation package Advocate Health approved for its 170,000 employees.

Why it matters

The raise lifts annual salaries for minimum-wage employees from $39,208 to $41,600 and follows two $1 increases in January 2024 and January 2025. It signals how large health systems in North Carolina are competing for workers in a tight labor market.

The increase follows a 35-cent raise in January 2026 and is systemwide within the $1.24 billion package, which includes $846 million in additional compensation and $390 million in incremental benefits. Cone Health and Novant Health currently pay minimum wages of $18 and $17 an hour, respectively.

The players

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

The largest private employer in the Triad, operating across the region and northwest North Carolina with roughly 27,000 employees.

Advocate Health

The parent health system that approved the $1.24 billion compensation package covering about 170,000 employees.

The details

The minimum-wage increase is part of a systemwide compensation package that also covers merit increases, incentives and pay-range updates. Advocate will spend $138 million to absorb more than 90% of a projected $149 million rise in medical plan costs. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has about 27,000 employees in the Triad and northwest North Carolina.

January 2024: First $1 an hour minimum-wage increase took effect.
January 2025: Second $1 an hour minimum-wage increase took effect.
January 2026: A 35-cent minimum-wage increase took effect.
2027: Minimum hourly wage rises by $1.15 to $20.

Market Landscape

Atrium's $20 minimum sits above Cone Health's $18 and Novant Health's $17, widening the gap in the Triad's hospital labor market. The move extends a pattern of successive annual increases that competing systems will have to answer in their own pay scales.

Minimum-wage workers at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist will see annual salaries rise from $39,208 to $41,600 once the 2027 increase takes effect. Nurses and staff weighing job offers in the Triad can compare that base against Cone Health and Novant Health pay.

The takeaway

Pay gaps between Triad health systems are becoming a central factor in where clinical staff choose to work. Workers comparing offers should look at the minimum wage alongside benefits and scheduled raises.