Gig Worker Minimum Pay Laws by City and State (2026)

New York City's delivery floor goes up each April, from $19.56 in 2024 to $22.13 in 2026. Tips come on top of that, not out of it.

The per-offer amount is a backstop for short jobs. Seattle workers get the greater of $5.34 or the per-minute plus per-mile amount in 2026, rising to $5.54 in 2027.

Seattle's per-minute rate moves in small steps, from $0.44 in 2024 to $0.48 in 2027. Small cents add up over a full week of engaged time.

Washington rideshare trips from Seattle pay the most per mile at $1.63. Per-mile rates are always paid alongside a per-minute rate, so compare both before judging a market.

Washington's Seattle rideshare rate of $0.70 a minute edges out NYC's $0.681. Minnesota and Washington count only time with a passenger in the car, which makes their minutes harder to earn.

Per-trip minimums protect you on very short rides. In Washington the floor is $6.12 for trips starting in Seattle but $3.55 elsewhere in the state.

Gig worker minimum pay laws in force in the US, October 2026

Source: NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Delivery Worker Minimum Pay Rate (rulemaking and annual inflation adjustments); NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission, Driver Pay Rates (High-Volume For-Hire Services minimum per-trip payment standard); City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards, App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance (SMC 8.37); Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Transportation Network Company (TNC) Notice of Driver Rights under the Washington State Minimum Wage Act; Washington State Legislature, RCW 49.46.300 Transportation network company drivers: minimum compensation; Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Transportation network company (TNC) driver protections; California Secretary of State, Official Voter Information Guide, Proposition 22, Text of Proposed Laws (Business and Professions Code sections 7448 to 7467). Download as image

Scheduled gig worker minimum pay changes for 2027

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Transportation network company (TNC) driver protections; City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards, App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance (SMC 8.37); NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Delivery Worker Minimum Pay Rate (rulemaking and annual inflation adjustments). Download as image

Gig worker minimum pay law status by state

• 3Statewide gig worker minimum pay law
• 1City-level law only
• 0Pay floor from AG settlement (not confirmed)
• 46No gig worker minimum pay law found

Do gig workers get minimum wage?

Usually not. Federal and state minimum wage laws apply to employees. App companies classify drivers and couriers as independent contractors, so the regular hourly minimum in your state does not reach your pay unless a separate gig law says so.

That is why the map on this page is mostly empty. Washington, Minnesota and California have statewide rules, and New York has rules only inside New York City. Everywhere else, your earnings depend on what the app offers and what you accept.

There is one more route. If an app controls your work so tightly that you are really an employee, you may be owed the regular minimum wage and overtime. That is a misclassification claim, and it turns on facts like who sets your schedule, your prices and your methods. It is a fight worth knowing about, but it is slower and less certain than a written pay floor.

How the pay formulas actually work

Each law measures work differently, so a higher number in one place does not always mean more money in your pocket.

New York City delivery pay is hourly. The $22.13 rate covers time spent preparing and making deliveries, and tips are added on top. Grocery apps were brought under the rule by a December 26, 2025 Final Rule.

Seattle's PayUp ordinance pays per minute and per mile on an offer, with a per-offer minimum as a floor. In 2026 that means $0.47 a minute plus $0.80 a mile, or $5.34 per offer, whichever is greater.

Washington and Minnesota rideshare laws pay per minute and per mile only while a passenger is in the vehicle. Time spent waiting for a request or driving to a pickup does not count toward those minutes.

California's Prop 22 is different again. It guarantees 120% of the applicable minimum wage for engaged time, plus a per-mile allowance, checked over each earnings period of up to 14 days. The state minimum wage is $16.90 in 2026, but the 120% applies to engaged time only, not the hours you spend logged in and waiting.

Which cities have a minimum pay law for delivery drivers?

Among the places covered here, New York City and Seattle are the cities with their own app delivery pay floors in 2026. New York's rule covers restaurant and grocery delivery apps. The city has said it will set a rate for all delivery apps in early 2027.

Seattle's PayUp law is broader in one way. It covers app-based workers taking on-demand offers, rather than just food delivery. It took effect January 13, 2024, and the 2027 per-minute and per-offer amounts are already published.

California's Prop 22 also covers app-based delivery drivers statewide. The Washington and Minnesota statewide laws cover rideshare drivers only, so a courier in Minnesota does not get the rate a rideshare driver across town is owed.

What if you work somewhere without a gig pay law?

That covers most gig workers in the country. In Texas, Florida, Georgia or Ohio, we found no state or city law that sets a floor for app work. Your pay is whatever the platform offers, and the platform can change its formula with little warning.

So treat each offer like a small business decision. Before you accept, look at the full distance including the drive to the pickup, the likely wait and what the payout works out to per hour of your time. Many experienced drivers set a personal minimum and decline anything below it.

Read the terms you agreed to when you signed up. They spell out how the app calculates pay, when it can change rates, what it deducts and how disputes get resolved. If you also take direct clients, the contract with each client sets your rate, your payment deadline and what happens if they pay late. Without a pay law behind you, those clauses do the job a law would do.

Are gig pay laws enforced, and what if you were underpaid?

Yes, and the sums can be large. On September 22, 2026, New York City announced a $131.5 million enforcement action against DoorDash over delivery worker law violations. More than $115 million goes directly to workers, and the relief reaches more than 260,000 of them.

Your own records make a claim much easier. Pay statements, trip logs and screenshots show the gap between what the law required and what the app paid. If you work in a covered city, keep your weekly earnings summaries and note the time you spent on each job.

• Download your pay history from the app every week, before it rolls off the screen.
• Match each trip or offer against the local formula: hourly in New York City delivery, per minute plus per mile in Seattle, Washington and Minnesota, engaged time in California.
• Check the right year's rate. Washington resets on January 1, New York City delivery pay changes in April, and Minnesota's 2027 increase is already set. Seattle has published its 2027 per-minute and per-offer amounts but not the per-mile amount.
• File with the agency that runs the law: NYC Consumer and Worker Protection or the Taxi and Limousine Commission, the Seattle Office of Labor Standards, Washington Labor and Industries, or Minnesota Labor and Industry.
• Outside these places, look at your contract. With no pay floor in law, the agreement you clicked through is the only thing that sets your rate.

What this means for businesses that hire gig workers

If you run a platform or hire couriers through one, the rules follow where the work happens, not where your company is based. A trip that starts in Seattle carries a different minimum than one that starts and ends elsewhere in Washington.

Classification matters too. These laws were written for app-based workers who are treated as contractors. If your arrangement gives you employer-style control over schedules, routes or prices, regular wage laws may apply instead, with overtime and payroll taxes on top.

Budget for annual increases. Washington indexes its rates each January 1, New York City adjusts its delivery rate each April, and Minnesota rises to $1.33 per mile, 32 cents per minute and $5.20 per trip on January 1, 2027. A rate card that was compliant last year can fall short this year without anyone touching it.

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. 50 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. NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Delivery Worker Minimum Pay Rate (rulemaking and annual inflation adjustments) (2026 inflation adjustment (rate effective first pay period on or after April 1, 2026))
2. NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Delivery Workers: Know Your Rights (Accessed October 18, 2026 (Notices of Rights updated January 12, 2026))
3. NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Mayor Mamdani Wins Record $131.5 Million From DoorDash for Delivery Workers (September 22, 2026)
4. NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission, Driver Pay Rates (High-Volume For-Hire Services minimum per-trip payment standard) (Rates effective March 1, 2026)
5. City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards, App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance (SMC 8.37) (Rate table for 2024 to 2027, accessed October 18, 2026)
6. City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards, TNC Minimum Compensation Ordinance (Accessed October 18, 2026 (ordinance effective January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022))
7. Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Transportation Network Company (TNC) Notice of Driver Rights under the Washington State Minimum Wage Act (2026 rates (PDF modified April 2026))
8. Washington State Legislature, RCW 49.46.300 Transportation network company drivers: minimum compensation (Current RCW, accessed October 18, 2026)
9. Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Transportation network company (TNC) driver protections (Accessed October 18, 2026 (rates effective Dec. 1, 2024; inflation adjustment effective Jan. 1, 2027))
10. California Secretary of State, Official Voter Information Guide, Proposition 22, Text of Proposed Laws (Business and Professions Code sections 7448 to 7467) (November 3, 2020 General Election)
11. California Department of Industrial Relations, Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions (Accessed October 18, 2026 (2026 rate))
12. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, State Minimum Wage Laws (Updated July 1, 2026)