Minimum Wage
The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since July 2009 and has not moved since. Where a state or city sets a higher rate, the higher one applies — federal law is a floor, not a ceiling. Roughly twenty states are still effectively at $7.25, five have no state minimum wage law at all, and two set a rate below the federal floor that the FLSA overrides.
Minimum wage is the part of pay law people assume is simple, and it is the part where a published figure goes out of date fastest. Rates change every January, several change again mid-year, and cities set their own on top.
Which number applies to you
The highest one that covers your job. Federal, state, city and sometimes industry rates stack, and the employer owes the highest applicable rate for the location where the work is performed. Paying the state rate to someone working in a city with a higher local rate is a violation regardless of intent.
The federal floor has not moved in seventeen years
$7.25 since July 2009. Any increase needs an act of Congress, and none has passed since 2007. That stability is why the action has moved entirely to states and cities, and why a national conversation about "the minimum wage" describes fewer and fewer workers each year.
Tipped work is a different system
Federal law lets an employer pay a cash wage of $2.13 an hour and count tips toward the rest, up to a credit of $5.12. If tips do not close the gap, the employer must make up the difference. Eight states do not allow a tip credit at all and require the full minimum in cash before any tip.
How to find your own rate in two minutes
Your rate is the highest of the federal, state, county and city minimums that apply where you actually work — and around 88 jurisdictions change theirs during 2026, most on 1 January and a handful mid-year.
So check your state labor agency first, then search your city and county specifically. A city minimum quietly overriding a state one is the most common reason somebody is underpaid without anyone intending it.
What this is not
Legal advice. Where a specific employer or a specific unpaid amount is at issue, the state labor agency or the federal Wage and Hour Division is the correct next step, and both take complaints directly.
Articles in this section
- Federal, State and Local Minimum Wage: Which One Applies 1 min read
- The Tipped Minimum Wage and How the Credit Works 1 min read
- Cities With a Higher Minimum Than Their State 1 min read
- Scheduled Minimum Wage Increases to Watch 1 min read
- Who Is Exempt From Minimum Wage 1 min read
- Youth, Training and Learner Wages 1 min read
- Industry-Specific Minimum Wages 1 min read
- Minimum Wage Rules for Workers With Disabilities 1 min read
- Minimum Wage Around the World: How the Systems Differ 1 min read
- What to Do If You Are Being Paid Below the Minimum 1 min read
Common questions
What is the federal minimum wage?
$7.25 an hour, unchanged since July 2009. Raising it requires an act of Congress and none has passed since 2007.
Which rate applies if they differ?
The highest one covering your job at the location where the work is performed. Federal law is a floor, not a ceiling.
How many states are still at $7.25?
Roughly twenty are effectively at the federal floor. Five have no state minimum wage law, and two set a rate below $7.25 that federal law overrides for covered employers.
What is the tipped minimum wage?
A federal cash wage of $2.13 with a tip credit of up to $5.12. If tips do not bring you to the full minimum, the employer must make up the difference.
Can a city set a higher rate than the state?
In many states, yes, and the local rate then governs work performed there. Some states prohibit local minimum wages entirely.
Where should I check the current rate?
Your state labor agency and the Department of Labor's state minimum wage pages. Published rate tables go stale every January and several are wrong in between.
Overtime and Hours
The floor sets the rate. The next question is which hours have to be paid at all.
Read it →