Minimum Wage by State 2026

Twenty states are effectively at $7.25 — the federal minimum unchanged since July 24, 2009. Five have no state minimum wage law at all: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The federal rate applies by default in each.

Thirteen others match $7.25 by their own state statute, including Texas, Indiana, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Georgia and Wyoming set state minimums of $5.15 — below the federal floor — so the Fair Labor Standards Act's $7.25 applies to most covered workers in both states.

Texas and Pennsylvania are the most populous states still at $7.25. Neither has raised its minimum wage since adopting the federal floor in 2009. Pennsylvania's legislature has debated increases multiple times without passing one.

Eight states require tipped workers to receive the full standard minimum wage: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Tips in those states are extra income, not a wage offset.

The federal tip credit allows employers to pay as little as $2.13 per hour to tipped workers, provided tips bring them to at least $7.25. Twenty-three states apply this federal floor. Others set higher cash minimums: New York requires $10.00 per hour for food service workers, Illinois $9.00, and Florida $10.98 (the standard rate minus a $3.02 credit).

A server in Texas earns a $2.13 cash wage before tips. The same job in Washington pays $16.66 per hour before any tip. The gap in tipped cash wages across states is wider than the gap in standard wages.

Missouri, Nebraska, Virginia, and Hawaii all saw their minimum wages increase to $15.00 or higher on January 1, 2026. Missouri and Nebraska completed multi-year ballot initiative schedules. Virginia completed the final step of its 2020 Minimum Wage Act.

Alaska increases from $13.00 to $14.00 on July 1, 2026, under Proposition 2 (2024). Florida moves from $14.00 to $15.00 on September 30, 2026 — the final step in Amendment 2's annual $1 increase schedule that began in October 2021.

Several CPI-indexed states adjusted upward on January 1, 2026: Washington (to $16.66), Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, South Dakota, and Vermont. Michigan is scheduled to increase again on February 21, 2027, with $15.00 targeted by 2028.

The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not changed since July 24, 2009, the longest gap since the Fair Labor Standards Act first established a national floor in 1938. The act requires employers to pay whichever rate is higher: federal or state.

Local minimum wages can exceed the state rate where state law permits. Seattle ($20.29 per hour in 2026), San Francisco ($18.67), and New York City ($17.00) all set rates above their state minimums. Employers in those cities must pay the local rate.

Some states prohibit local minimum wage ordinances entirely. Arkansas, Tennessee, and Wisconsin have preemption laws that bar cities and counties from setting rates above the state floor. In those states, the statewide rate is the ceiling as well as the floor.