Maine Minimum Wage 2026: $15.10 Now, $15.70 on January 1, 2027

Maine’s minimum wage is $15.10 an hour in 2026. On September 18, 2026 the Maine Department of Labor announced it will rise to $15.70 on January 1, 2027, the annual inflation adjustment required by state law. The tipped cash wage is $7.55 in 2026 and $7.85 in 2027. Portland sets a higher local rate, $16.75 in 2026 and $17.75 from January 1, 2027, and Rockland’s is $16.00 in 2026.

Maine at a glance

How the Maine minimum wage is set

The rate is in 26 M.R.S. §664. After voters amended the law by referendum in 2016, it reached $12.00 in 2020 and has been adjusted every January 1 since 2021 by the change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Northeast region, measured August to August and rounded to the nearest 5 cents. If the federal minimum wage ever rises above Maine’s, Maine’s moves up to match it.

The Department of Labor announces the next year’s figure each September, once the August CPI data is out. On September 18, 2026 it announced that the rate will rise from $15.10 to $15.70 an hour on January 1, 2027, after a 4.1% increase in the CPI-W between August 2025 and August 2026. The 2026 rate of $15.10 was announced on September 11, 2025.

The state minimum wage now also covers agricultural workers, under a law the Legislature passed and the Governor signed in 2025.

Maine tipped minimum wage

Maine allows a tip credit of up to 50% of the minimum wage for a service employee, someone who regularly receives more than a set amount in tips each month. For 2026 the direct cash wage is $7.55 an hour and the tip threshold is $191 a month. From January 1, 2027 the cash wage is $7.85 and the threshold is $199 a month.

The employer has to tell the employee in advance, orally or in writing, how the tip credit works, and must be able to show that cash wage plus tips reaches the full minimum wage within the 7-day workweek. If tips fall short, the employer pays the difference. Tips belong to the employee. Credit card tips must be paid by the next regular payday, with no deduction for processing fees. Tip pools are allowed among service employees when the tip credit is used, and never include managers or supervisors.

Portland and Rockland minimum wages

Two Maine cities set their own higher rates.

Portland’s schedule comes from its minimum wage ordinance, as amended by referendum in November 2025. After 2028 it adjusts each January 1 by the Northeast CPI-U, and it rises automatically if the state rate ever passes it. Portland also caps the tip credit at half the city rate. The 2026 figures are from the City of Portland notice and the City of Rockland notice. Both cities say employers must still follow state law on overtime and other rules.

Exceptions

Maine has no youth, training or small-employer rate. The minimum wage applies to all employers. The main exception that affects pay rules is for salaried executive, administrative and professional employees who meet the duties tests and earn more than 3,000 times the state minimum wage (or the federal threshold, if higher): $871.16 a week in 2026 and $905.79 a week, or $47,101.08 a year, from January 1, 2027.

What this means for hiring

Maine now pairs a rising floor with a pay range rule: since July 29, 2026, employers with 10 or more employees must put the pay range in the job posting. So the January increase changes your ads as well as your payroll. Any posted range that starts at $15.10 has to move to at least $15.70 on January 1, 2027, and Portland ranges to at least $17.75.

Use the employee cost calculator to see what a Maine hire costs at the wage you plan to pay. The rest of the state’s rules on the 30-minute break, overtime, final pay, earned paid leave and hiring are on Maine labor laws, and the range rule is compared with other states on pay transparency laws by state.

Frequently asked questions

Part of Boostpoint’s minimum wage by state series.