Minimum wage by state 2026–2027: every rate and the next increase

Highest minimum wages

1. District of Columbia: $18.40, $18.40 on January 1, 2027
2. Washington: $17.13, $17.73 on January 1, 2027
3. Connecticut: $16.94, $17.48 on January 1, 2027
4. California: $16.90, $17.40 on January 1, 2027
5. Hawaii: $16.00
6. New York: $16.00–$17.00
7. Rhode Island: $16.00, $17.00 on January 1, 2027
8. New Jersey: $15.23–$15.92, $16.48 on January 1, 2027
9. Oregon: $14.55–$16.80, $15.55 on January 1, 2027
10. Colorado: $15.16, $15.71 on January 1, 2027

The top of the list is the West Coast and the Northeast. Washington has the highest statewide rate at $17.13 ($35,630 a year full time), and the District of Columbia – which sets its own wage like a state – is the highest in the country at $18.40. Many of these states adjust their rate for inflation every year, so the gap with the federal $7.25 keeps growing: Washington's rate is now 2.4 times the federal one.

Lowest minimum wages: the $7.25 states

20 states pay no more than the federal floor of $7.25: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Five of them – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee – have no state minimum wage law at all; Georgia and Wyoming have a state rate of $5.15 that the federal law overrides for nearly every job; the rest write $7.25 into state law or adopt the federal rate by reference. A full-time job at $7.25 pays $15,080 a year before taxes – the same as in 2009, while prices have risen by more than half since then.

What changes on January 1, 2027

• Arizona: $15.15 → $15.65 (+$0.50, announced by the state)
• California: $16.90 → $17.40 (+$0.50, announced by the state)
• Colorado: $15.16 → $15.71 (+$0.55, announced by the state)
• Connecticut: $16.94 → $17.48 (+$0.54, announced by the state)
• Maine: $15.10 → $15.70 (+$0.60, announced by the state)
• Michigan: $13.73 → $15.00 (+$1.27, fixed in state law)
• Minnesota: $11.41 → $11.87 (+$0.46, announced by the state)
• Montana: $10.85 → $11.20 (+$0.35, announced by the state)
• Nebraska: $15.00 → $15.26 (+$0.26, fixed in state law)
• New Jersey: $15.92 → $16.48 (+$0.56, announced by the state)
• Ohio: $11.00 → $11.40 (+$0.40, announced by the state)
• Rhode Island: $16.00 → $17.00 (+$1.00, fixed in state law)
• South Dakota: $11.85 → $12.30 (+$0.45, announced by the state)
• Vermont: $14.42 → – (+$-14.42, not announced yet)
• Virginia: $12.77 → $13.75 (+$0.98, fixed in state law)
• Washington: $17.13 → $17.73 (+$0.60, announced by the state)

Still to come: District of Columbia (July 1, 2027; usually in the spring); Oregon (July 1, 2027; in the spring); Vermont (January 1, 2027; the 2026 rate was announced on October 6, 2025). We add each figure when the state publishes it.

Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia have no increase scheduled: their rate is fixed in law until the legislature or voters change it. New York's rate is indexed to inflation from 2027, but the law's “off-ramp” conditions were met, so its rates stay at $17.00 downstate and $16.00 upstate on January 1, 2027.

Inflation-indexed and fixed minimum wages

19 jurisdictions link their minimum wage to inflation: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington. Most use a consumer price index for urban wage earners (CPI-W) or all urban consumers (CPI-U), measured over the year to August or September, and announce the new rate between August and October. California caps the yearly change at 3.5%, Minnesota and Vermont at 5%. The other states move only when a law or ballot measure sets a new figure – Virginia's $13.75 (2027) and $15.00 (2028), Rhode Island's $17.00 (2027), Hawaii's $18.00 (2028) and Nebraska's yearly steps to $16.08 in 2030 are examples.

Tipped minimum wage

Under the federal law an employer may pay a tipped worker – someone who regularly gets more than $30 a month in tips – a cash wage of $2.13 and count up to $5.12 of tips toward the minimum wage (the “tip credit”). States can be stricter. 7 states ban the tip credit entirely: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington. Others set a higher cash wage – from $2.23 up to $14.75 in Hawaii – and 16 states use the federal $2.13. Everywhere, if wages plus tips fall short of the full minimum wage in a week, the employer must pay the difference.

City and county minimum wages

Some cities and counties set their own, higher minimum wage, mostly in California, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, Arizona and Illinois. Inside their limits the local rate wins. The ones we track, with each city's own source:

• Tukwila, WA: $21.65
• Burien, WA: $21.63
• Renton, WA: $21.57
• Seattle, WA: $21.30 → $22.14 on January 1, 2027
• Unincorporated King County, WA: $20.82
• Everett, WA: $20.77
• SeaTac, WA: $20.74
• San Francisco, CA: $19.61
• Denver, CO: $19.29 → $19.84 on January 1, 2027
• Bellingham, WA: $19.13
• Flagstaff, AZ: – → $18.95 on January 1, 2027
• San Jose, CA: $18.45
• Los Angeles (city), CA: $18.42
• Edgewater, CO: $18.17 → $19.84 on January 1, 2027
• San Diego, CA: $17.75 → $18.35 on January 1, 2027
• Chicago, IL: $17.05
• City of Boulder, CO: $16.82 → $18.17 on January 1, 2027
• Unincorporated Boulder County, CO: $16.82
• Minneapolis, MN: $16.37 → $17.02 on January 1, 2027
• Saint Paul (large and macro businesses), MN: $16.37 → $17.02 on January 1, 2027

How the minimum wage works

The highest rate applies. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the national floor; a state or city may only go higher. An employee covered by more than one law gets the highest rate. Most employers are covered by the federal law – businesses with at least $500,000 in yearly sales, and anyone whose work involves interstate commerce, which in practice includes most jobs.

Who can be paid less. Federal law allows $4.25 for workers under 20 during their first 90 consecutive days with an employer, a tip credit for tipped workers, and special certificates for some full-time students, learners and workers with disabilities. Many states narrow or ban these; each state page lists its own youth and training rules where the state publishes them.

Overtime. Hours over 40 in a workweek must be paid at one and a half times the regular rate under federal law. California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado also count daily overtime, and California pays double time after 12 hours in a day.

Salary. A salary or piece rate is fine as long as the pay for the week, divided by the hours worked, is at least the minimum wage for every hour.

When you are underpaid. Keep a record of your hours and pay stubs and file a wage claim with your state labor department – the state page links it – or with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243. Retaliating against a worker who complains is illegal under federal and state law.

Minimum wage by the year: full-time pay

At 2,080 hours a year (40 hours × 52 weeks), before taxes: $7.25 → $15,080; $10.00 → $20,800; $12.00 → $24,960; $15.00 → $31,200; $17.00 → $35,360; $18.40 → $38,272. Monthly pay is the yearly figure divided by 12 – $2,600 a month at $15.00.