Minimum Wage by State 2026: Rates + Take-Home Pay

Disclaimer: Informational only, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Minimum wage rates and tax rules change often, and several states adjust by formula mid-year. Confirm current figures with your state labor department or the U.S. Department of Labor before relying on them.

The 2026 Federal Minimum Wage Is Still $7.25

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour in 2026. It has not moved since July 24, 2009, which makes this the longest stretch without a raise in the law’s history.

That frozen number is the floor everything else measures against. Twenty states still default to exactly $7.25, so for millions of workers the federal rate is the whole story.

Everywhere else, states, cities, and counties have pushed their own minimums higher. In 2026, 22 states raised their rate, and dozens of cities went further. The result is a wide gap: a full-time job pays about $15,080 a year at $7.25 and roughly $35,600 at Washington’s $17.13.

The rate is only half of what lands in your account, though. Before you compare states, it helps to see the full table, then follow the money past gross pay to actual take-home.

Minimum Wage by State 2026: The Full Table

Here are the 2026 minimum wage rates for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Where a state raises its rate partway through the year, the effective date is noted. Several states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, and others) recalculate each year using an inflation formula.

State	2026 Minimum Wage	Notes
Alabama	$7.25	No state law; federal applies
Alaska	$14.00	Rises to $14.00 on July 1, 2026
Arizona	$15.15	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Arkansas	$11.00	No 2026 change
California	$16.90	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Colorado	$15.16	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Connecticut	$16.94	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Delaware	$15.00
District of Columbia	$18.40	Highest overall; rose July 1, 2026
Florida	$15.00	Rises to $15.00 on Sept 30, 2026
Georgia	$7.25	State rate is $5.15; federal applies
Hawaii	$16.00	Effective Jan 1
Idaho	$7.25	Matches federal
Illinois	$15.00
Indiana	$7.25	Matches federal
Iowa	$7.25	Matches federal
Kansas	$7.25	Matches federal
Kentucky	$7.25	Matches federal
Louisiana	$7.25	No state law; federal applies
Maine	$15.10	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Maryland	$15.00
Massachusetts	$15.00
Michigan	$13.73
Minnesota	$11.41	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Mississippi	$7.25	No state law; federal applies
Missouri	$15.00	Effective Jan 1
Montana	$10.85	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Nebraska	$15.00	Effective Jan 1
Nevada	$12.00
New Hampshire	$7.25	Matches federal
New Jersey	$15.92	Indexed, effective Jan 1
New Mexico	$12.00
New York	$16.00	$17.00 in NYC, Long Island, Westchester
North Carolina	$7.25	Matches federal
North Dakota	$7.25	Matches federal
Ohio	$11.00	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Oklahoma	$7.25	Matches federal
Oregon	$15.05	Rises July 1, 2026 (standard rate)
Pennsylvania	$7.25	Matches federal
Rhode Island	$16.00	Effective Jan 1
South Carolina	$7.25	No state law; federal applies
South Dakota	$11.85	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Tennessee	$7.25	No state law; federal applies
Texas	$7.25	Matches federal
Utah	$7.25	Matches federal
Vermont	$14.42	Indexed, effective Jan 1
Virginia	$12.77	Effective Jan 1
Washington	$17.13	Highest state rate; indexed Jan 1
West Virginia	$8.75
Wisconsin	$7.25	Matches federal
Wyoming	$7.25	State rate is $5.15; federal applies

Washington, D.C. tops the list at $18.40, after its July 1, 2026 bump, and climbs again each July 1. Washington state leads the 50 states at $17.13. At the other end, the $7.25 tier still covers 20 states, mostly across the South and the Plains.

New York is worth a second look. The upstate rate is $16.00, but New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County pay $17.00. That split points to the rule that actually decides your check.

The Rule That Decides Your Paycheck

When federal, state, and local minimum wages disagree, the highest one that applies to your job wins. Employers do not get to pick the lowest.

So if you work in a city with a $17 ordinance inside a state at $12, you are owed $17. If your state matches the $7.25 federal floor and your county has no local rate, $7.25 is what applies.

Local rates add a layer the state table does not show. Cities like Seattle, Denver, and Flagstaff set their own minimums above the state number, and some counties do too. Always check whether a city or county ordinance covers your worksite.

Remote work follows the same logic by location. As a general rule, you are covered by the minimum wage of the place where you actually perform the work, not where your employer is headquartered. When you are unsure which rate governs your job, your state labor department can point you to the right number.

Tipped Minimum Wage in 2026

Tipped workers run on a separate set of numbers. Under federal law, an employer can pay a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour and count your tips toward the rest.

The gap between that $2.13 cash wage and the $7.25 floor, up to $5.12, is called the tip credit. Your tips are supposed to fill it. If a slow shift leaves your cash wage plus tips below $7.25 an hour, your employer has to make up the difference. That top-up is legally required.

Seven states reject the tip credit entirely. In these “One Fair Wage” states, tipped workers get the full state minimum wage in cash, and tips stack on top:

Alaska
California
Minnesota
Montana
Nevada
Oregon
Washington

Plenty of other states set a tipped cash wage above the federal $2.13 without eliminating the credit. Because the rules vary so much, check your own state’s tipped rate and its top-up requirement rather than assuming the federal minimum is what you should see.

What Minimum Wage Actually Nets After FICA

Most payroll-vendor guides stop at the rate on the table. That is your gross wage, not what reaches your bank account.

Start with the federal floor. Full-time at $7.25 is 40 hours a week times 52 weeks, which comes to $15,080 gross for the year. From there, two things come out before you see a dollar.

The first is FICA, and it hits every paycheck no matter how little you earn. Social Security takes 6.2% and Medicare takes 1.45%, for a combined 7.65%. On $15,080, that is about $1,154 a year gone straight to payroll tax.

Federal income tax is the second, and here the news is a little better for the lowest earners. The 2026 standard deduction for a single filer is around $16,100, which is just above a full-time minimum-wage salary, so federal income tax on $15,080 works out to roughly zero. FICA does most of the damage.

That leaves take-home near $13,900 a year, about $1,158 a month, for a single filer before any state income tax. The 7.65% FICA bite is the tax nobody mentions when they quote the hourly rate. For more on that split, see gross pay vs net pay and what percentage of your paycheck goes to taxes.

Now run a high-minimum state. Washington’s $17.13 comes to about $35,630 gross for the year. FICA takes roughly $2,725, and federal income tax on the amount above the standard deduction adds around $2,100. Because Washington is one of the states with no income tax, there is no state cut, so take-home lands near $30,800 a year, close to $2,565 a month. Same 40-hour week, more than double the paycheck.

State income tax is the wild card. A worker earning the same wage in California or New York keeps less than one in Texas or Florida, purely because of the state line. That is why the rate alone never tells you your real number.

How to Know Your Real Take-Home in Your State

Your actual paycheck depends on four things: your state minimum wage, your state income tax, your filing status, and your deductions. Change any one and the net figure moves.

A quick way to ballpark it is to take your gross and multiply by 0.80 to 0.85 near minimum wage, since income tax is light at that level and FICA is the main deduction. For an exact number, you need to run your own wage, hours, and state through a real calculation. You can start with the take-home pay calculator or convert your work hours to pay step by step.

If you pick up overtime, the math shifts again, since hours past 40 in a week pay 1.5 times your rate. The overtime pay calculator handles that, and overtime laws by state covers the states with daily rules.

This is the gap ClockWage44 is built to close. You log shifts across as many jobs as you want, and the built-in paycheck engine resolves federal tax, state tax, FICA, overtime, and deductions into a take-home figure to the cent, all on your device. Instead of guessing what a state’s minimum wage means for you, you see the real number after every deduction.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the federal minimum wage in 2026?

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour in 2026. It has not changed since July 24, 2009, the longest stretch without an increase in the law’s history.

Which states still pay $7.25 an hour in 2026?

Twenty states default to the federal rate of $7.25 in 2026: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Which state has the highest minimum wage in 2026?

Washington, D.C. is highest overall at $18.40 per hour, effective July 1, 2026, and it indexes higher each July 1. Among the 50 states, Washington is highest at $17.13 per hour.

If my state minimum wage is higher than the federal rate, which one do I get paid?

The higher of the two always applies. Your employer must pay the highest rate that covers your job, and a city or county ordinance can be higher still than the state rate.

What is the tipped minimum wage in 2026?

The federal tipped cash wage is $2.13 per hour, and tips must bring your total to at least $7.25. Seven states allow no tip credit and pay tipped workers the full state minimum wage in cash.

How much do you actually take home on minimum wage after taxes?

At $7.25 full-time, about $15,080 gross a year, take-home is roughly $13,900 a year, near $1,158 a month, for a single filer after FICA and federal income tax, and before any state income tax.

How much of minimum wage goes to FICA?

FICA takes 7.65% of your wages: 6.2% for Social Security plus 1.45% for Medicare. It is withheld even at the lowest wage levels, before any income tax.

References

U.S. Department of Labor — State Minimum Wage Laws — Official state-by-state minimum wage table.
U.S. Department of Labor — Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees — Federal tipped cash wage, tip credit, and state rules.
IRS Topic No. 751 — Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates — The 6.2% and 1.45% FICA rates.
Social Security Administration — Maximum Taxable Earnings — 2026 Social Security wage base.