Montana Minimum Wage 2026: $10.85, No Tip Credit, Indexed Every January

Montana’s minimum wage is $10.85 an hour, effective January 1, 2026, up from $10.55. It is adjusted every January 1 for inflation under MCA 39-3-409, and the Department of Labor & Industry must announce the 2027 rate by September 30, 2026; it had not been posted as of September 24. Montana allows no tip credit, so tipped employees earn the full $10.85 before tips. Only small businesses outside federal law with $110,000 or less in sales may pay $4.00.

Montana at a glance

How the Montana minimum wage is set

MCA 39-3-409 sets the minimum wage as the greater of the federal minimum wage or a Montana base rate, and requires the Department of Labor & Industry to adjust that rate every year for inflation. The adjustment uses the increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, U.S. city average) from August of the prior year to August of the current year, rounded to the nearest five cents. The Department must make the calculation "no later than September 30," and the new rate takes effect the following January 1. If prices do not rise, the rate does not change.

For 2026, the Department's 2026 determination letter, dated September 23, 2025, shows the arithmetic: the $10.55 rate for 2025, a 2.92% increase in the CPI, an inflation adjustment of $0.31, a subtotal of $10.86, rounded to $10.85.

The 2027 rate

The 2027 rate had not been posted on the Montana Department of Labor & Industry's minimum wage page when we checked on September 24, 2026. By statute it must be set by September 30, 2026, and last year's notice came out on September 23. It will be based on the August 2025 to August 2026 change in the CPI. Check the Department's page for the figure before you set 2027 pay; we have not estimated it.

Tipped employees

Montana does not allow a tip credit. The Department states: "No tip credit, meal credit, or training wage is allowed under Montana's Wage & Hour Laws." Servers, bartenders and other tipped employees must receive at least $10.85 an hour in wages, and their tips are on top. The U.S. Department of Labor's tipped wage table (updated July 1, 2026) likewise lists Montana's minimum cash wage as $10.85. This is a large cost difference between Montana and neighboring federal-rate states for restaurant and hospitality employers.

Exceptions

• Small businesses outside the FLSA. A business not covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 an hour (MCA 39-3-409(3)). But any individual employee who is covered by the FLSA, for example by producing or moving goods between states, must be paid the greater of the federal or Montana minimum.
• No youth or training wage. Montana's rate excludes the federal "special provisions for a training wage," and the Department says no training wage is allowed, so teenagers earn the full $10.85.
• Apprentices and learners may be exempted by the Commissioner for no more than 30 days of employment.
• Exempt employees. Bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees, qualifying computer employees earning at least $27.63 an hour, and outside sales employees are exempt from both minimum wage and overtime, per the Department's exemptions page.

Local minimum wages

Montana's minimum wage is set statewide, and there is no separate city rate in Billings, Missoula, Bozeman or Great Falls. The same $10.85 applies across the state.

What this means for hiring

Montana's floor rises every January, so a job ad or offer letter template written last year can go out of date without anyone noticing. Update your posted pay each December, and remember that for tipped jobs the wage in your ad has to be at least the full minimum, because Montana allows no tip credit. Overtime after 40 hours is calculated on that higher base. To see what a Montana hire costs at the wage you actually pay, including payroll taxes, use our employee cost calculator. For breaks, final pay deadlines and Montana's probationary-period rule, see Montana labor laws.

Frequently asked questions

Part of Boostpoint’s minimum wage by state series.