Minimum Salary for Exempt Employees by State (2026): Overtime Exemption Thresholds

The gap between states is wide. Washington's $80,168.40 sits far above the federal $35,568, so the same job title can be exempt in one state and overtime-eligible in another.

Washington has raised its threshold every year on a set schedule, from $35,100.00 in July 2020 to $92,196.00 for larger employers in 2027. If you are salaried there, expect your employer to revisit pay or classification each January.

Colorado stepped up in round numbers until 2024, reaching $55,000. Since 2025 the level moves with inflation, which is why the jumps are now smaller: $56,485, then $57,784 in 2026.

All three states in this chart go up on January 1, 2027. Washington's jump for employers with 51 or more workers is the biggest, to $92,196.00.

States with exempt salary minimums above the federal $684 per week (as of October 18, 2026)

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (Federal Register via GovInfo), Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, FR Doc. 2026-09839); Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Salary threshold implementation schedule (Publication F700-207-000); California Department of Industrial Relations, Labor Commissioner's Office, California's minimum wage set to increase to $16.90 per hour on January 1, 2026 (Release 2025-118); California Department of Industrial Relations, ICYMI: California's minimum wage set to increase to $17.40 per hour on January 1, 2027 (Release 2026-66); New York State Department of Labor, Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions; New York State Department of Labor, Your New York State Minimum Wage; Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Labor Standards and Safety, Wage and Hour, General Industry notice: Alaska wage and hour changes (salary exempt three-part test); Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, 2026 PAY CALC Order, 7 CCR 1103-14; Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, INFO #1: Key Wage and Hour Rights and Responsibilities in Colorado: the COMPS and PAY CALC Orders (2026); Maine Department of Labor, Maine's Minimum Wage $15.10 Per Hour Beginning Tomorrow, Including for Agricultural Workers; Maine Department of Labor, Maine's Minimum Wage to Increase to $15.70 Per Hour in 2027. Download as image

Other pay floors for exemptions: highly compensated, computer and U.S. territory levels

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (Federal Register via GovInfo), Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, FR Doc. 2026-09839); Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, 2026 PAY CALC Order, 7 CCR 1103-14; California Department of Industrial Relations, Office of the Director - Research, Overtime Exemption for Computer Software Employees, Effective January 1, 2027. Download as image

Exempt salary minimum compared with the federal $684 per week (2026) by state

• 6State minimum salary above the federal level
• 45Federal level applies ($684 per week)

What is the minimum salary to be exempt from overtime in 2026?

Under federal law it is $684 per week, which works out to $35,568 for a full year. That figure covers the executive, administrative and professional exemptions, sometimes called the white-collar or EAP exemptions.

Your state can set a higher floor, and when it does, the higher number wins. Six states do: Washington, California, New York, Alaska, Colorado and Maine. Everywhere else, the federal number is the one to use.

Two details trip people up. First, the salary has to be paid on a salary basis, meaning a fixed amount that doesn't shrink because you had a slow week. Second, the salary is only half the test. A receptionist with a big salary is still not an executive. Duties count as much as dollars.

Did the federal salary threshold go up?

No. The Department of Labor tried. A 2024 rule would have raised the floor to $844 and then $1,128 per week, but federal courts in Texas threw it out on Nov. 15 and Dec. 30, 2024. The Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeals in May 2026, and on May 15, 2026 the Department put the $684 figure back into the regulations.

So if you read in 2024 that you would be getting overtime or a raise, it didn't last. The $844 step applied for a few months in 2024 before the court ruling wiped it out, and the $1,128 step never took effect. Today the number is back to the $684 that first took effect on Jan. 1, 2020. The federal highly compensated employee level also stays where it was, at $107,432 in total yearly pay.

Which states set a higher exempt salary threshold?

Each of the six uses its own formula, and that matters because it tells you how the number will move.

Washington ties its floor to the state minimum wage: 2.25 times it for a 40-hour week, which gives $1,541.70 a week in 2026. California uses twice the state minimum wage for full-time work. With the 2026 rate at $16.90 an hour, that comes to $70,304. Alaska also doubles the state minimum wage, and since that wage rose to $14.00 on July 1, 2026, the floor is now $1,120 a week.

New York splits by region. Executive and administrative staff in New York City, Long Island and Westchester need at least $1,275.00 a week. The rest of the state needs $1,199.10. New York has no state salary level for professionals, so engineers, accountants and similar roles fall back to the federal $684.

Colorado adjusts its $57,784 floor for inflation each year. Maine requires a salary above 3,000 times its minimum wage, which lands at $871.16 a week in 2026.

The pattern is simple once you see it. When a state's floor is pegged to its minimum wage, every minimum wage increase quietly raises the exempt line too. That is why a salary that cleared the bar last year can fall short this year without anyone touching your pay. If you live in one of these six states, put a reminder in your calendar for each January (July in Alaska) and check the new figure against your offer letter or your last raise.

What these numbers mean for you

• If you are a salaried worker: compare your pay to your state's figure, not the federal one. A California manager earning a bit under $70,304 cannot be treated as exempt, no matter what the offer letter says.
• If you work remotely: the state where you physically do the work usually controls. A salary that clears the federal floor for a company in Texas may fall short if you live in Washington.
• If you run a business: budget for January. Raising someone just past the line is often cheaper than paying overtime, but only if their duties also qualify.
• If you are offered part-time salaried work in California: the state's floor is built on full-time pay, so a prorated salary below it is a red flag.
• If you write code in California: there is a separate, higher floor for computer software employees, $122,573.13 a year in 2026.

What changes in 2027, and how should you plan?

Several increases are already on the books. On Jan. 1, 2027, California goes to $72,384 and Maine to $47,101.08. Washington sets two levels by employer size: $92,196.00 for employers with 51 or more workers and $82,976.40 for those with 50 or fewer. Alaska moves to $1,200 a week on July 1, 2027.

New York had not published 2027 figures as of October 2026, and its minimum wage will not rise on Jan. 1, 2027. Colorado will publish an inflation-adjusted number.

Employers have three choices when a threshold rises: raise the salary, reclassify the role as non-exempt and track hours, or restructure the job. Workers should watch for the second option. A switch to hourly pay can be legal, but it should come with a written change and a clear overtime rate, not a quiet cut to your base.

Business owners should also look past the salary line. Bonuses, title changes and new duties all affect whether a role still qualifies, so review the job description at the same time you review pay.

What should you do if you think you are misclassified?

Start with records. Keep your pay stubs, your offer letter and a simple log of the hours you actually work. Then compare your salary to your state's floor for the year in question, since the number changes over time.

Next, look at your duties honestly. Do you manage people, make real decisions, or use advanced training in your daily work? If your job is mostly routine tasks, a title like coordinator or specialist won't save the exemption.

If both tests point the wrong way, you may be owed back overtime. Your state labor department or the federal Wage and Hour Division can take a complaint, and many employment lawyers review wage claims at no upfront cost. Check your contract first, though. An arbitration clause can change where and how you bring that claim.

Sources and method

Every number on this page comes from the sources below, each opened and read on or before October 18, 2026. A second, independent review checked every figure against its source and corrected anything that did not match. 51 of 51 state entries were confirmed; any that could not be are marked "Not yet confirmed" and left out of every count and chart.

1. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (Federal Register via GovInfo), Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, FR Doc. 2026-09839) (May 15, 2026)
2. Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Salary threshold implementation schedule (Publication F700-207-000) (October 2026 [10-2026])
3. California Department of Industrial Relations, Labor Commissioner's Office, California's minimum wage set to increase to $16.90 per hour on January 1, 2026 (Release 2025-118) (December 5, 2025)
4. California Department of Industrial Relations, ICYMI: California's minimum wage set to increase to $17.40 per hour on January 1, 2027 (Release 2026-66) (August 13, 2026)
5. California Department of Industrial Relations, Office of the Director - Research, Overtime Exemption for Computer Software Employees, Effective January 1, 2027 (October 2026)
6. New York State Department of Labor, Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions (Undated web page, read 2026-10-18)
7. New York State Department of Labor, Your New York State Minimum Wage (Undated web page showing rates as of 01/01/2027, read 2026-10-18)
8. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, INFO #1: Key Wage and Hour Rights and Responsibilities in Colorado: the COMPS and PAY CALC Orders (2026) (December 18, 2025)
9. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, 2026 PAY CALC Order, 7 CCR 1103-14 (Adopted December 8, 2025; effective February 1, 2026)
10. Maine Department of Labor, Maine's Minimum Wage $15.10 Per Hour Beginning Tomorrow, Including for Agricultural Workers (December 31, 2025)
11. Maine Department of Labor, Maine's Minimum Wage to Increase to $15.70 Per Hour in 2027 (September 18, 2026)
12. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Labor Standards and Safety, Wage and Hour, General Industry notice: Alaska wage and hour changes (salary exempt three-part test) (2026 letter (undated PDF, read 2026-10-18))
13. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Employment Practices and Working Conditions, Wage and Hour Pamphlet 100 (AS 23.10.055) (Current edition, read 2026-10-18)
14. Ogletree Deakins, Three Wage-and-Hour Issues for Employers to Prioritize for 2026 (November 7, 2025)
15. Barnes & Thornburg LLP, The State of Employment Law: Six States Set a Higher Bar for Overtime Exemption (April 2, 2025)
16. SHRM (article by Littler Mendelson), Pennsylvania Repeals Rule Increasing Exempt Salary Threshold (July 19, 2021)