Minimum wage rates for 2026 by state

If you’re an employer hiring for the first time, knowing the minimum wage rate in your state is crucial. Even though there hasn’t been an increase in the federal minimum wage in the United States since 2009, many states have their own wage laws that you must follow if you have employees or plan to hire in that location.

Offering competitive pay and a benefits package with various perks can help you attract and retain workers for the long haul. However, your first step as an employer is understanding U.S. minimum wage laws so you can comply with federal and state regulations.

In this blog post, you’ll learn:

• The differences between various wage types, including the federal minimum wage, tipped wages, and subminimum wages.
• Key regulations and exceptions for minimum wage laws across the United States, including state-specific rates and upcoming changes.
• How to ensure minimum wage compliance while balancing fair compensation practices.

What is a minimum wage?

The minimum wage is the lowest amount an employer may pay a worker per hour to do a job. The federal government sets the minimum wage rate, and all U.S. employers must offer at least that amount.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) created the first minimum wage laws in 1938¹. These laws aimed to enhance labor protections for workers, safeguard them from exploitation, and establish a minimum level of fair compensation. They’ve also helped many employees earn incomes that exceed the federal poverty rate.

Here are some quick facts about the history of minimum wage:

• The United States government has increased the minimum wage 23 times since its inception².
• The federal minimum wage rate rose three times between 2007 and 2009 to its current rate of $7.25 per hour³.
• Before 2007, the government hadn’t increased the rate since 1997.

Individual states can set their own minimum wage as long as it isn’t lower than the federal rate. Cities and counties within many states also set minimum wage requirements. In either case, employers must pay the higher amount where their company employs workers in accordance with state laws.

What is a living wage?

While often confused with minimum wage, a living wage is the salary an employee can live on comfortably, once you factor in the average cost of living.

A few examples of what factors into the cost of living include:

• Location
• Rent and housing costs
• Transportation
• Taxes
• Grocery prices
• Inflation
• Fuel
• Child care

What is a tipped minimum wage?

If you’re an employer in an industry where your staff receive a large portion of their wages from tips, you can pay a tipped minimum wage. Similar to the standard minimum wage, many states, cities, and counties have their own tipped wage requirements that exceed the federal rate.

Here’s how tipped minimum wage works:

• Under federal law, tipped employees are those who regularly receive more than $30 in tips each month.
• The government allows employers to pay these minimum wage workers a base salary of $2.13 per hour⁴.
  • Suppose a tipped worker’s total tips plus their $2.13 per hour wage rate don’t equal the federal wage of $7.25. In that case, the employer must make up the difference.

Employers can credit employees' tips toward the minimum cash wage in many states. Under the FLSA, the maximum amount of tips an employer can credit toward the minimum wage calculation is $5.12 per hour.

The following seven states don’t allow employers to use the tip credit system:

1. Alaska
2. California
3. Minnesota
4. Montana
5. Nevada
6. Oregon
7. Washington

Employers in these states must pay the full tipped minimum wage regardless of an employee's tip earnings.

What is subminimum wage?

The FLSA allows employers to pay some employees an hourly wage below the federal minimum wage rate under specific circumstances. This is known as a subminimum wage. To do this compliantly, employers must hold the appropriate work certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

Under federal law, business owners who employ the following workers in these situations can pay a subminimum wage:

1. Full-time students: Full-time students working in the retail, service, agriculture, or higher education industries must earn at least 85% of the federal minimum wage⁵.
   1. Unlike regular full-time employees, students can’t work more than 20 hours per week during the school season. However, they can work eight hours per day.
2. Student learners: Technical or vocational school students must earn at least 75% of the federal wage while actively participating in their learning program⁶.
3. Youth minimum wages: Also known as a training wage, employers may pay workers younger than age 20 an hourly wage of $4.25 until they complete a three-month probationary period. Afterward, employers must pay at least the federal rate⁷.
4. Workers with disabilities: Workers with specific disabilities may receive less than the federal minimum wage⁸. Employers determine disability based on the type of work the individual performs.
   1. Employers can set an hourly rate based on the worker’s productivity in relation to their coworkers without disabilities⁹.

In 2020, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights called to end subminimum wages for workers with disabilities due to a lack of wage regulation, the inability to access a living wage, and the exploitation of these individuals in the workplace.

While the practice is still allowed on a federal level, several states and cities prohibit subminimum wages for workers with disabilities.

Minimum wage rates for 2026 by state

Now that you understand the different types of minimum wages, the chart below will walk you through the 2026 minimum wage rates by state.

Eighteen states have increased their minimum wages for 2026. While most states change their rates to take effect on January 1, some state laws make these changes at different times of the year, such as July 1 or September 30.

The following chart is a state-by-state breakdown reflecting the January 1 effective dates unless otherwise stated:

What are future projections for minimum wage rates?

Only ten states, plus Washington D.C, had a minimum cash wage of at least $15 in 2025. However, due to inflation adjustments, rising healthcare costs, and increased living expenses nationwide, more states have scheduled increases based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Several state legislatures have approved bills increasing their state’s minimum wage rate in the coming years. Keep in mind that an increase in the local minimum wage rate may also result in a higher tipped wage rate in these areas.

Conclusion

Keeping up with laws surrounding the minimum wage in the United States is an ever-changing challenge for business owners. You may need to navigate minimum wage laws on an annual basis, depending on your industry, business size, or location. Therefore, you must keep a close eye on popular times of the year when state and local governments update their minimum wages so your business stays compliant.

This article was originally published on January 7, 2015. It was last updated on November 21, 2025.

1. FLSA

2. A History of the Federal Minimum Wage

3. Federal Minimum Wage Rate Raises

4. U.S. Department of Labor

5. Subminimum Wages for Full-Time Students

6. Subminimum Wages for Student Learners

7. Subminimum Wages for Youths

8. Subminimum Wages for Workers with Disabilities

9. Determining Wages for Workers with Disabilities