Minimum Wage by State 2026: Rates, 2027 Increases and Tipped Wages

The District of Columbia has the highest minimum wage in 2026 at $18.40 an hour, followed by Washington at $17.13 and New York City at $17.00. Twenty states still pay the federal $7.25, because their own rate is the same, lower, or does not exist. Fourteen states have announced a higher rate for 1 January 2027, led by Washington at $17.73 and Connecticut at $17.48.

A state minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate an employer covered by that state's law may pay; when the federal, state and local rates differ, the employer pays the highest. Rates below come from the US Department of Labor's consolidated state minimum wage table and tipped wage table, both effective 1 July 2026 and read on 21 October 2026, updated for Florida's 30 September 2026 increase from the Florida Department of Commerce. The 2027 figures come from each state's labor department, linked in that section.

HRpresso analysis: across the 50 states and DC, the median 2026 minimum wage is $11.85, South Dakota's rate, and 18 states plus DC are at $15 or more. A full-time worker at 2,080 hours a year earns $35,630.40 at Washington's rate and $15,080 at the federal floor, our arithmetic, a gap of $20,550.40 a year for the same job title.

Five findings

1. Half the country is above $11.85. With New York and Oregon counted at their statewide standard rates, 25 jurisdictions sit above that median and 25 below it.
2. The $15 club now has 18 states plus DC. Florida joined on 30 September 2026, when its voter-approved schedule reached its last step.
3. Twenty states are on the federal floor. Five (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee) have no state minimum wage law, and Georgia and Wyoming set a state rate of $5.15 that the federal rate overrides for covered employers.
4. The 2027 raises are mostly inflation-sized. Across the 14 states with an announced 1 January 2027 rate, the average increase is 4.3%, our arithmetic; Michigan (9.2%) and Virginia (7.7%) stand out because their raises are set in statute rather than by an inflation formula.
5. New York pauses. Its labor department says one of the law's "off-ramp" conditions was met, so the 1 January 2027 inflation increase does not happen and rates stay where they are.

Minimum wage and tipped wage in every state, 2026

Rates are in US dollars per hour, as of 21 October 2026. "Full minimum wage" means the state allows no tip credit, so tipped workers get the regular rate before tips. Local minimums, such as city ordinances, can be higher and are not shown.

The federal tipped minimum is a cash wage of $2.13 with a maximum tip credit of $5.12, and the states listed at that cash wage follow it. In every tip-credit state, the employer must make up the difference when cash wage plus tips falls short of the full minimum. Montana's lower rate of $4.00 applies only to businesses outside the Fair Labor Standards Act with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less, and New Jersey sets a lower $15.23 for employers with fewer than 6 employees and for seasonal work.

Which states raise the minimum wage in 2027?

These are the increases state labor departments had published by 21 October 2026, with the raise per full-time worker at 2,080 hours, our arithmetic.

Several tipped rates move with them. Colorado's tipped cash wage rises to $12.69, Maine's to $7.85, New Jersey's to $6.61 with the tip credit unchanged at $9.87, Ohio's to $5.70 and South Dakota's to $6.15. Virginia's 2027 step also brings farm laborers under the state minimum wage, and the state's code sets $15.00 for 1 January 2028.

Three schedules work differently. New York holds at its current rates on 1 January 2027 because an off-ramp in its indexing law was triggered, although home care aides still get an increase, according to the New York State Department of Labor. Oregon and DC adjust on 1 July each year by formula, so their 2027 rates come later; Oregon's schedule keeps Portland metro $1.25 above the standard rate. Florida stays at $15 through 31 December 2027, then indexes to inflation each 1 January. Vermont also adjusts by formula every January, so confirm its 2027 rate with the Vermont Department of Labor before you run January payroll.

What the gaps cost an employer

The spread matters most to multi-state employers who set one pay band. Paying the Washington rate in a federal-floor state costs $20,550.40 more per full-time worker a year, our arithmetic at 2,080 hours, so a company with 20 hourly staff on its lowest band would carry roughly $411,000 a year by matching the top state everywhere. Setting bands by state or metro, and reviewing them each January and July when the indexed rates move, keeps that cost tied to where people actually work.

The 2027 raises are smaller per worker but land on every hourly employee at the floor. A 25-person hourly team in Michigan at the minimum sees its annual wage bill rise by about $66,040 on 1 January 2027, our arithmetic from the $1.27 step at full time. In Washington, the same team adds $31,200. Those figures exclude payroll taxes and overtime, which rise with the base rate.

Tipped staff need two checks. In a tip-credit state, the cash wage is only the floor; if a server's tips for the pay period do not lift them to the full minimum, the employer owes the gap. In the seven full-minimum states (Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington), tips sit on top of the regular rate. Restaurant operators comparing locations should read our HR software for restaurants ranking, which compares payroll and scheduling tools built for tipped teams.

How to keep payroll compliant when rates change

Update rates before the first pay period that includes the effective date, not the first payroll run after it. A 1 January increase applies to hours worked on or after that date, even inside a pay period that started in December. The time clock software ranking covers clock-in tools for hourly teams, the shift scheduling software ranking covers rota tools, and the HR compliance software ranking covers poster and policy updates when a new rate means a new workplace poster.

Check local ordinances too. The Department of Labor's tables leave out city and county minimums, which in some places sit above the state rate. If you run payroll yourself, our guide to running payroll yourself walks through the setup, and how much payroll costs a small business compares the software bill against an outsourced provider. For a wider set of labor numbers, see our HR statistics page.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory Dupple runs, evaluated 76 payroll tools for its payroll ranking as of October 2026, and only 1 of the 10 it ranks highest has a free plan. Toolradar's profiles of Gusto and Homebase list their plans; our Gusto review, Homebase pricing page and payroll software for small business ranking compare their costs.

Methodology

We read the US Department of Labor's consolidated state minimum wage table, its state-by-state law summary and its tipped wage table, all effective 1 July 2026, on 21 October 2026, and replaced Florida's July figure with the rate the state's commerce department set from 30 September 2026. The 2027 table uses only rates published by a state labor department or governor's office, linked in each row. Medians, counts and annual figures are our arithmetic at 2,080 hours, with New York and Oregon counted at their statewide standard rates. Minimum wage rules have exemptions for minors, trainees and some industries, so check the state's own guidance for your workforce.

FAQ

What is the highest minimum wage in the US in 2026?

The District of Columbia, at $18.40 an hour since 1 July 2026. Among states, Washington is highest at $17.13, followed by New York's downstate rate of $17.00 for New York City, Long Island and Westchester. Washington rises to $17.73 on 1 January 2027.

Which states use the federal minimum wage of $7.25?

Twenty states: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Five of them have no state minimum wage law, and Georgia and Wyoming set a lower state rate that the federal rate overrides for covered employers.

Which states raise the minimum wage on 1 January 2027?

Fourteen states had published a 1 January 2027 increase by 21 October 2026: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia and Washington. Alaska follows on 1 July 2027, when its rate reaches $15. New York holds its rates on 1 January 2027.

What is the minimum wage for tipped employees?

Under federal law it is a cash wage of $2.13 an hour, as long as tips bring the worker to the full minimum. States vary widely: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington require the full minimum wage before tips, while Florida requires $11.98 and DC $10.30 in cash wages in 2026.

How much is the minimum wage per year for a full-time worker?

At 2,080 hours a year, our arithmetic, the federal minimum comes to $15,080, the national median state rate of $11.85 to $24,648, and DC's $18.40 to $38,272 before taxes. Overtime, which the Department of Labor's state table puts at one and a half times the regular rate unless a state specifies otherwise, adds to those figures.

Does the highest minimum wage always apply?

Yes. When federal, state and local minimum wages differ, the employer must pay the highest one that applies to the worker, as the Department of Labor's consolidated table notes. That is why a city ordinance can set the real floor above the state rate.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the rate, exemptions and posting rules for your workforce with the state labor department before you change payroll.

Cite this: HRpresso, "Minimum Wage by State 2026: Rates, 2027 Increases and Tipped Wages", November 2026. Sources: US Department of Labor and state labor departments.

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