Kansas Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25, With No Local Rates and No Scheduled Increase

The Kansas minimum wage is $7.25 an hour in 2026, set by K.S.A. 44-1203 and unchanged since January 1, 2010. Tipped employees can be paid a $2.13 cash wage if tips bring them to $7.25. The Kansas law covers only employers the federal Fair Labor Standards Act doesn't reach; everyone else pays the identical federal $7.25. No increase is scheduled, and state law bars cities and counties from setting a higher rate.

Kansas at a glance

How the Kansas minimum wage is set

The rate is written into the statute. K.S.A. 44-1203(a) says that "on and after January 1, 2010, employee wages shall be paid at a rate of not less than $7.25 an hour." There is no inflation index and no schedule of future increases, so the number only changes if the Legislature amends the law. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since July 24, 2009, and the U.S. Department of Labor's state minimum wage table lists Kansas at the same $7.25.

The more important detail is who the Kansas law covers. K.S.A. 44-1202(d) defines "employer" to exclude "any employer who is subject to the provisions of the fair labor standards act." The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers every enterprise with at least $500,000 in annual sales and any worker individually engaged in interstate commerce (DOL Fact Sheet #14). So most Kansas employers owe $7.25 because of federal law, and the Kansas act fills in for the small businesses the FLSA doesn't reach. Either way, the floor is the same $7.25.

Tipped employees

Kansas allows a tip credit. Under K.S.A. 44-1203(b), an employer may count tips toward the minimum wage if tips have customarily been part of the employee's pay and the employee actually receives and keeps them, but must pay a cash wage of at least $2.13 an hour. If the $2.13 plus tips comes to less than $7.25 an hour, the employer pays the difference. That matches the federal rule, where the maximum tip credit is $5.12 and, under the FLSA, a tipped employee is one who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips (DOL tipped wage table, effective July 1, 2026).

Local minimum wages in Kansas

There aren't any. K.S.A. 12-16,130 prohibits any city, county or local government unit from requiring an employer to pay "compensation or wages at any rate higher than the minimum wage" unless state or federal law requires it. Wichita, Overland Park, Kansas City, Kansas, and every other Kansas city use the same $7.25 floor. (Kansas City, Missouri, across the state line, is governed by Missouri law.)

Exceptions to the Kansas minimum wage

For employers covered by the Kansas act, K.S.A. 44-1202(e) leaves several groups out of the definition of "employee," including:

• people employed in agriculture, or in domestic service in or about a private home;
• bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees, and outside commission-paid salespeople;
• people 18 or under employed on an occasional or part-time basis, which the statute defines as under 40 hours a week (students 18 and under working between academic terms count as part-time regardless of hours);
• federal employees and volunteers for nonprofit organizations.

These exceptions only matter for employers outside the FLSA. If the FLSA covers you, its own exemptions apply instead, and the federal rules on minors and students are narrower. The Kansas overtime rule for non-FLSA employers is also different: time and a half after 46 hours a week (K.S.A. 44-1204), not 40.

Is the Kansas minimum wage going up?

Not on any schedule. Kansas has no automatic adjustment, so the rate stays at $7.25 until the Legislature amends K.S.A. 44-1203 or Congress raises the federal minimum. The Legislature's next regular session begins in January 2027. If a change is enacted, it will appear in the statute and the Kansas Department of Labor's notices before it takes effect.

What this means for hiring in Kansas

$7.25 is a legal floor, not a market rate. Kansas employers hiring warehouse, healthcare, restaurant or manufacturing staff are competing with each other, and near the state line with employers in neighboring states that have their own minimum wage laws. The number that decides whether people apply is the one in your ad, so put it in the first line with the shift and the town. To see what a hire actually costs at the wage you pay, including payroll taxes, use our employee cost calculator. For breaks, overtime, final pay and the rest of the state's rules, see our Kansas labor laws guide.

Frequently asked questions

Part of Boostpoint’s minimum wage by state series.