Key Takeaways
- The federal minimum wage has been $7.25/hour since July 24, 2009, and no legislation to change it has passed Congress.
- 19 states plus D.C. automatically raise their minimum wage each year based on inflation (usually CPI-W), so their rates change without new legislation.
- Washington, D.C. has the highest rate in the country at $18.40/hour; five states (AL, LA, MS, SC, TN) have no state minimum wage law and default to the federal $7.25.
- Florida's minimum wage jumps to $15.00/hour on September 30, 2026 - the final step of a 2020 constitutional amendment - then switches to annual inflation adjustments starting 2027.
- Michigan's rate rises to $15.00/hour on January 1, 2027, another multi-year phase-in reaching its final step.
The federal minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour in 2026 — unchanged since July 2009, the longest stretch without an increase since the federal minimum wage was created in 1938.
Where you actually stand depends entirely on your state. Washington, D.C. now has the highest minimum wage in the country at $18.40/hour, followed by Washington (WA) state at $17.13 and Connecticut (CT) at $16.94. Five states — Alabama (AL), Louisiana (LA), Mississippi (MS), South Carolina (SC), and Tennessee (TN) — have no state minimum wage law at all, so the federal $7.25 rate applies by default for any employer covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
2026 Minimum Wage by State
Where a state’s minimum wage is higher than the federal rate, the state rate applies. Where a state has no minimum wage law, or sets one below $7.25, the federal rate applies instead for employers covered by the FLSA — which is the vast majority of employers.
| State | 2026 Minimum Wage | vs. Federal ($7.25) |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama (AL) | $7.25 (no state law) | Equal |
| Alaska (AK) | $13.00 → $14.00 (Jul 1) | Above |
| Arizona (AZ) | $15.15 | Above |
| Arkansas (AR) | $11.00 | Above |
| California (CA) | $16.90 | Above |
| Colorado (CO) | $15.16 | Above |
| Connecticut (CT) | $16.94 | Above |
| Delaware (DE) | $15.00 | Above |
| District of Columbia (DC) | $18.40 | Above |
| Florida (FL) | $14.00 → $15.00 (Sep 30) | Above |
| Georgia (GA) | $7.25 (state law sets $5.15, but FLSA governs) | Equal |
| Hawaii (HI) | $16.00 | Above |
| Idaho (ID) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Illinois (IL) | $15.00 | Above |
| Indiana (IN) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Iowa (IA) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Kansas (KS) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Kentucky (KY) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Louisiana (LA) | $7.25 (no state law) | Equal |
| Maine (ME) | $15.10 | Above |
| Maryland (MD) | $15.00 | Above |
| Massachusetts (MA) | $15.00 | Above |
| Michigan (MI) | $13.73 → $15.00 (Jan 1, 2027) | Above |
| Minnesota (MN) | $11.41 | Above |
| Mississippi (MS) | $7.25 (no state law) | Equal |
| Missouri (MO) | $15.00 | Above |
| Montana (MT) | $10.85 | Above |
| Nebraska (NE) | $15.00 | Above |
| Nevada (NV) | $12.00 | Above |
| New Hampshire (NH) | $7.25 | Equal |
| New Jersey (NJ) | $15.92 | Above |
| New Mexico (NM) | $12.00 | Above |
| New York (NY) | $17.00 (NYC/Nassau/Suffolk/Westchester) / $16.00 (rest of state) | Above |
| North Carolina (NC) | $7.25 | Equal |
| North Dakota (ND) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Ohio (OH) | $11.00 (larger employers) / $7.25 (small) | Above |
| Oklahoma (OK) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Oregon (OR) | $15.55 standard / $16.80 Portland metro / $14.55 non-urban | Above |
| Pennsylvania (PA) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Rhode Island (RI) | $16.00 | Above |
| South Carolina (SC) | $7.25 (no state law) | Equal |
| South Dakota (SD) | $11.85 | Above |
| Tennessee (TN) | $7.25 (no state law) | Equal |
| Texas (TX) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Utah (UT) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Vermont (VT) | $14.42 | Above |
| Virginia (VA) | $12.77 | Above |
| Washington (WA) | $17.13 | Above |
| West Virginia (WV) | $8.75 | Above |
| Wisconsin (WI) | $7.25 | Equal |
| Wyoming (WY) | $7.25 (state law sets $5.15, but FLSA governs) | Equal |
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division — updated July 1, 2026. Local city/county minimum wages (Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, and others) can run higher than the state rate shown here.
Which States Automatically Adjust for Inflation?
19 states plus D.C. now index their minimum wage to inflation, typically the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). That means their rate can change every year without a new law or ballot measure.
This group includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and D.C. — most of these adjustments land on January 1, though D.C. and Oregon adjust on July 1 instead.
If your state isn’t on that list, its minimum wage only moves when the state legislature or a ballot initiative changes it.
States With No Minimum Wage Law
Five states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee — have never passed their own minimum wage law. For virtually every employer in those states, the federal $7.25 rate is what actually applies, because almost all employers are covered by the FLSA.
Georgia and Wyoming are a slightly different case: both technically have a state-set rate of $5.15/hour on the books, but federal law overrides it for FLSA-covered employers, so $7.25 is the practical floor there too.
Subscribe or follow us to get updates as more states finalize their 2027 rates.
Two Examples: What This Looks Like in a Paycheck
Maria works full-time at a retail store in Ohio (OH). Ohio’s minimum wage is $11.00/hour for larger employers, so at 35 hours a week she earns $385 before taxes — about $60 more per week than she’d make at the federal $7.25 rate.
James works part-time in Tennessee (TN), one of the five states with no state minimum wage law. His employer pays the federal floor of $7.25/hour. At 20 hours a week, that’s $145 before taxes — a reminder of how much a state’s minimum wage law (or lack of one) can shift take-home pay for otherwise identical jobs.
Common Issues to Watch Out For
I get questions about this topic every time a state’s rate changes, so here’s what trips people up most:
- Confusing the state rate with a local city/county rate. Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, and dozens of other cities set their own minimum wage above the state figure — the table above only shows state-level rates.
- Assuming tipped workers get the same rate. Most states set a separate, lower “tipped minimum wage,” with the employer required to make up the difference if tips don’t bring an employee to the full minimum. A few states (California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Washington, and others) don’t allow a tip credit at all. See my tipping philosophy for how this affects what you should actually tip.
- Missing employer-size exceptions. Several states — Ohio, Montana, and Missouri among them — apply a lower rate to small businesses under a certain revenue threshold, so two workers doing the same job at different-sized companies can legally earn different minimums.
- Overlooking a mid-year increase. Alaska (July 1), Florida (September 30), D.C. (July 1), and Oregon (July 1) all have increases that land outside of January — it’s easy to assume a state’s rate is fixed for the calendar year when it isn’t.
- Not checking for a scheduled jump. Michigan and Florida both have one final legislatively-mandated increase still coming (2027 and September 2026, respectively) before they switch to ordinary annual inflation adjustments.
Looking Ahead: 2027 Outlook
A few things are already locked in for 2027. Michigan’s minimum wage rises to $15.00/hour on January 1, 2027, the last step of Senate Bill 8’s multi-year schedule, after which it starts adjusting annually like most indexed states. Florida’s rate — having just hit $15.00 in September 2026 — begins its own first CPI-W-based adjustment for 2027, calculated each September and taking effect the following January.
For the 19 states and D.C. that index to inflation, expect typical increases in the 2–4% range for 2027, consistent with recent CPI trends, though the exact figures won’t be finalized until late 2026.
On the federal side, I’m not expecting movement. Multiple bills to raise the $7.25 federal floor — including a 2026 proposal from Senator Chris Murphy to raise it to $25/hour — have been introduced in Congress, but none have gathered the votes to pass a divided Congress. Barring a surprise, the federal minimum wage is likely to remain $7.25 through 2027. I’ll update this page as states finalize their 2027 numbers, typically between October and December 2026.
Related reading:
- SNAP Food Stamp Benefit Amounts by State
- Maximum Weekly Unemployment Benefits by State
- 2026–2027 No Tax on Overtime: Who Qualifies, How to Calculate Your Deduction
- 2026–2027 No Tax on Tips: Who Qualifies, Income Limits, and Real Examples
- Your 2026 Tax Refund Could Be 11% Bigger
- My Tipping Philosophy for 2026
