Minimum Wage by State 2026 (and Scheduled 2027 Increases)

DC sits above every state at $18.40, and the top of the list is crowded: Washington, New York, Connecticut and California are bunched close together, from $17.13 down to $16.90. New York's figure is its higher downstate tier; the rest of the state pays $16.00.

Most of these are automatic inflation adjustments, not new laws, which is why they arrive each year without much fanfare. Michigan's jump from $13.73 to $15.00 and Virginia's rise from $12.77 to $13.75 are the bigger scheduled steps.

The country splits into two camps. 18 states + DC are at $15.00 or more, while 20 states still sit at the $7.25 federal floor, with 6 states between $12.00 and $14.99 and 6 more between $7.26 and $11.99.

Congress raised the federal rate in fits and starts, never on a fixed schedule, with long gaps between 1981 and 1990 and again between 1997 and 2007. The line stops at 2009 because there has been no federal change since July 24, 2009, which is why state rates now do most of the work.

Scheduled and announced 2027 state minimum wage changes

Source: Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Washington's minimum wage rises to $17.73 an hour in 2027; Office of Governor Ned Lamont, State of Connecticut, Governor Lamont Announces Minimum Wage Will Increase; California Department of Industrial Relations, Release No. 2026-66: ICYMI: California’s minimum wage set to increase to $17.40 per hour on January 1, 2027; State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws § 28-12-3. Minimum wages; New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, NJ minimum wage increase press release (2027 rates); Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Press Release: Colorado Minimum Wage will Increase to $15.71/hour in 2027; Maine Department of Labor, Maine's Minimum Wage to Increase to $15.70 Per Hour in 2027; KTAR News, Arizona's minimum wage set to increase by 50 cents in January; U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, State Minimum Wage Laws; Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Press Release No. 25-11: Alaska Minimum Wage will increase July 1, 2025; Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System, Code of Virginia § 40.1-28.10. Minimum wages; South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation, Employment Laws - Minimum Wage; Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Minimum-wage rate adjusted for inflation as of Jan. 1, 2027; Ohio Department of Commerce, State of Ohio 2027 Minimum Wage poster; Montana Department of Labor & Industry, Employment Relations Division, Montana's Minimum Wage; Nebraska Legislature, LB258 (slip law), 109th Legislature. Download as image

States with more than one general minimum wage rate (2026)

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, State Minimum Wage Laws; Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, Minimum Wage; Ohio Department of Commerce, State of Ohio 2027 Minimum Wage poster. Download as image

Indexed or scheduled states without a January 1, 2027 increase

Source: Office of the Governor of New York, New York State Minimum Wage for 2027; U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, State Minimum Wage Laws; Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, Minimum Wage; D.C. Department of Employment Services, Office of Wage and Hour, District of Columbia Minimum Wage Increase (public notice); The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine), Florida Constitution, Article X, Section 24 (Florida Minimum Wage); Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes § 387-2. Minimum wages. Download as image

Minimum wage in effect, October 2026 by state

• 19$15.00 or higher
• 6$12.00 to $14.99
• 6$7.26 to $11.99
• 20$7.25 federal floor

What is the minimum wage in my state in 2026?

Start with the state table, then check two things it can't show you on its own: your city and your employer's size or type.

The rule is simple. When federal, state and local minimums differ, you're owed the highest one that covers your job. If you work in Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis or St. Paul, the city rate can beat the state rate by a wide margin. Denver's 2027 local rate is $19.84, well above Colorado's statewide $15.71.

Some states run more than one rate. New York pays $17.00 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester and $16.00 everywhere else. Oregon has three location tiers, from $14.55 in nonurban counties to $16.80 in the Portland metro. In 2026, New Jersey's small and seasonal employers pay $15.23 instead of $15.92. Ohio and Montana tie the rate to how much the business takes in, so a small shop can legally pay less than a large chain across the street.

Then there are the 20 states where $7.25 is the effective floor. Thirteen of them simply match the federal rate. The other 7 have no minimum wage law at all, or one set below $7.25, which means employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act pay $7.25 anyway. Georgia and Wyoming still have a $5.15 state rate on the books, but it only matters for the few jobs the federal law doesn't cover.

Which states are raising the minimum wage in 2027?

Most of the 2027 raises are already locked in. Many states index their minimum wage to inflation, so the labor department publishes the new figure in late summer or early fall and it takes effect January 1, 2027.

Washington will be the highest-paying state at $17.73, up 3.5% from $17.13. Connecticut moves to $17.48 and California to $17.40. Michigan reaches $15.00 under its own schedule, and Virginia goes to $13.75 on January 1, 2027, then $15.00 on January 1, 2028.

Not everyone moves in January. Alaska's increase to $15.00 lands on July 1, 2027, and DC and Oregon adjust on July 1 as well. New York is the notable pause: an economic off-ramp condition was met, so its $17.00 and $16.00 rates do not change on January 1, 2027. A proposed increase from March 1, 2027 needs the Legislature to sign off first.

Florida just finished its climb, reaching $15.00 on Sept 30, 2026. It won't change again in 2027. Its first inflation adjustment is calculated on Sept 30, 2027 and takes effect the following January 1.

Does minimum wage apply to freelancers and independent contractors?

No. Minimum wage laws protect employees. If you're a true independent contractor, nobody owes you an hourly floor, and a fixed-fee project can end up paying you far less per hour than the local minimum once revisions pile up.

That cuts both ways. If a client controls your hours, tools and methods like a boss would, you may actually be an employee who was misclassified, and then minimum wage and overtime rules can apply after all. States test this differently, and some are much stricter than the federal standard.

For freelancers, the practical move is to treat the local minimum as a sanity check, not a target. Track your real hours on a flat-fee job. If the effective rate drops toward your state's minimum, the contract probably needs a revision cap, a change-order process or an hourly rate for extra work.

What should employers do before the 2027 increases?

If you run payroll in more than one state, the January 1 changes can catch you out, especially for remote staff. The rate that applies usually follows where the employee physically works, not where your office is.

• Map every hourly employee to a work location, including city, and look up the rate for that exact place.
• Update payroll before the effective date. An increase that starts January 1, 2027 applies to hours worked from that day, not from your next pay run.
• Recheck tipped employees. Tipped base rates move too: Colorado's 2027 tipped rate is $12.69 and South Dakota's is $6.15.
• Watch thresholds tied to the minimum wage. In several states the salary needed to treat someone as overtime-exempt is a multiple of the state minimum, so a raise in one moves the other.
• Look at your gross receipts if you're in Ohio. The cutoff for the higher rate rises from $405,000 in 2026 to $419,000 in 2027.
• Swap out your required workplace posters once the state publishes the new version.

What does the gap between states mean for job offers and remote work?

The spread is wide and getting wider. A worker in Washington starts 2027 at $17.73, while a worker doing the same job in Pennsylvania or Texas is still owed $7.25. The federal rate hasn't moved, and the indexed states rise a little every year, so the distance grows on its own.

For job seekers, that means a single national pay band can look generous in one state and barely legal in another. If an offer quotes an hourly rate, check it against the rate where you'll actually be working, then check whether the employer has a plan for the next scheduled raise. A rate that clears the minimum today might not clear it next January.

For small businesses hiring remotely, it means one number rarely fits everyone. It's usually simpler to set pay by location from the start than to discover in January that three employees in three states now sit below the floor.

How do I check that I'm being paid correctly?

Pull up your last pay stub and divide your gross pay by the hours you actually worked, including any you weren't asked to log. Compare that figure to the highest rate that covers your workplace, city included.

Read your offer letter or employment contract too. Language like "compensation may be adjusted at the company's discretion" doesn't let an employer drop you below the legal minimum, and no clause can waive it. If your pay falls short, you can file a wage complaint with your state labor department or the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. Back-pay claims have time limits, so don't sit on it.

Sources and method

Every number on this page comes from the sources below, each opened and read on or before October 17, 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, State Minimum Wage Laws (Last updated July 1, 2026)
2. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Consolidated Minimum Wage Table (Revised July 1, 2026)
3. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938 - 2009 (Covers changes through July 24, 2009)
4. The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine), Florida Constitution, Article X, Section 24 (Florida Minimum Wage) (Current constitution text, accessed 2026-10-15)
5. California Department of Industrial Relations, Release No. 2026-66: ICYMI: California’s minimum wage set to increase to $17.40 per hour on January 1, 2027 (August 13, 2026)
6. Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Washington's minimum wage rises to $17.73 an hour in 2027 (September 30, 2026)
7. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Press Release: Colorado Minimum Wage will Increase to $15.71/hour in 2027 (August 13, 2026)
8. Office of Governor Ned Lamont, State of Connecticut, Governor Lamont Announces Minimum Wage Will Increase (August 5, 2026)
9. Maine Department of Labor, Maine's Minimum Wage to Increase to $15.70 Per Hour in 2027 (September 18, 2026)
10. Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Minimum-wage rate adjusted for inflation as of Jan. 1, 2027 (August 19, 2026)
11. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, NJ minimum wage increase press release (2027 rates) (September 29, 2026)
12. Ohio Department of Commerce, State of Ohio 2027 Minimum Wage poster (Rev. 9/30/26)
13. Montana Department of Labor & Industry, Employment Relations Division, Montana's Minimum Wage (Accessed 2026-10-15)
14. South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation, Employment Laws - Minimum Wage (Accessed 2026-10-15)
15. Office of the Governor of New York, New York State Minimum Wage for 2027 (Undated page, accessed 2026-10-15)
16. Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System, Code of Virginia § 40.1-28.10. Minimum wages (Current code, accessed 2026-10-15)
17. Office of the Governor of Virginia, Governor Spanberger signs bills to raise state minimum wage (April 2026 (bills signed April 9, 2026))
18. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Press Release No. 25-11: Alaska Minimum Wage will increase July 1, 2025 (June 11, 2025)
19. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, Minimum Wage (Rates for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027)
20. D.C. Department of Employment Services, Office of Wage and Hour, District of Columbia Minimum Wage Increase (public notice) (2026 notice for the July 1, 2026 increase)
21. KTAR News, Arizona's minimum wage set to increase by 50 cents in January (2026 (reports August 2026 CPI data); Industrial Commission of Arizona page could not be opened)
22. State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws § 28-12-3. Minimum wages (As amended by P.L. 2025, ch. 222 (H 5029 Sub A); page could not be opened directly)
23. Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes § 387-2. Minimum wages (As amended by Act 114 (2022); page could not be opened directly)
24. Nebraska Legislature, LB258 (slip law), 109th Legislature (Signed February 9, 2026; page could not be opened directly)