Texas Minimum Wage 2026: Still $7.25, Tied to the Federal Rate
Texas’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, unchanged since July 24, 2009. The Texas Minimum Wage Act adopts the federal rate by reference, so Texas moves only when the federal minimum does — and it hasn’t since 2009. Texas also preempts local governments from setting a higher minimum wage for private employers, so $7.25 applies statewide with no city or county exceptions.
Texas at a glance
| Current rate | $7.25 / hour |
|---|---|
| Effective | July 24, 2009 (federal rate) |
| Tipped cash wage | $2.13 / hour ($5.12 tip credit) |
| Next scheduled change | None — tied to the federal rate |
What this means for hiring
$7.25 is a legal floor, not a competitive wage in most Texas labor markets — most employers hiring for frontline roles in Texas are already paying well above it because the local labor market demands it, not because the law does. The number worth tracking isn’t Texas law, which won’t move on its own; it’s whether Congress changes the federal rate, since Texas would follow automatically.
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Book a DemoPart of Boostpoint’s minimum wage by state series, covering the 16 states where Boostpoint runs the most hiring campaigns.