Wyoming Minimum Wage 2026: $5.15 on Paper, $7.25 in Practice

Wyoming’s minimum wage statute sets $5.15 an hour, but the federal minimum of $7.25 applies to any employer or employee covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is nearly every Wyoming business. So $7.25 is the real floor in 2026. Tipped employees can be paid a $2.13 cash wage if tips bring them to the minimum. The state rate has no inflation index and no increase is scheduled, and there are no local rates.

Wyoming at a glance

How the Wyoming minimum wage is set

Wyoming's minimum wage is a fixed figure in statute. W.S. 27-4-202(a) says "every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees wages at a rate of not less than five dollars and fifteen cents ($5.15) per hour." There is no inflation index, no schedule of increases and no link to the federal rate, so the state number changes only if the Legislature amends the law. The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services' employer FAQ gives the same answer: "$5.15 per hour."

That figure is below the federal minimum wage of $7.25, and the U.S. Department of Labor's state tipped wage table (updated July 1, 2026) lists Wyoming's combined rate as $7.25. Where both laws apply, the employer must pay the higher rate. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act covers every enterprise with at least $500,000 in annual sales and any employee individually engaged in interstate commerce, such as handling goods or phone calls that cross state lines (DOL Fact Sheet #14). In practice, that means $7.25 is the minimum for nearly every Wyoming employer. The $5.15 rate matters only for the small number of employers and employees the FLSA does not reach.

Tipped employees

Under W.S. 27-4-202(b), employers may pay tipped employees a cash wage of $2.13 an hour, and must make up the difference if wages plus tips fall short of the applicable minimum. A tipped employee is one who "customarily and regularly receives more than thirty dollars ($30.00) a month in tips," and tipped employees must give their employer a monthly record of daily tips. For an FLSA-covered employer, the target is $7.25, so the maximum tip credit is $5.12. Tips belong to the employee: W.S. 27-4-507 says tips and gratuities are "the sole property of such employee or employees and not payable in whole or in part to the employer or any other person."

Local minimum wages

Wyoming's minimum wage comes from the state code and federal law. The federal $7.25 applies in Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, Gillette and everywhere else in the state for covered employers.

Exceptions

• Youth opportunity wage. Wyoming law, like federal law, lets employers pay workers under 20 at least $4.25 an hour during their first 90 consecutive days with the employer (W.S. 27-4-202(c)), and bars displacing other employees, even by cutting their hours, in order to hire at that rate. The federal version is described on the U.S. Department of Labor's minimum wage FAQ.
• Certificates. Full-time students, student-learners and some workers with disabilities can be paid less only under a federal certificate.
• Overtime. Wyoming has no state overtime law for private employers; the federal rule of 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours a week applies.

What this means for hiring

$7.25 is a legal floor, not a hiring wage, in almost any Wyoming labor market, and the $5.15 in the statute is a number to ignore unless your lawyer has confirmed you are outside the FLSA. The figure that matters is the rate your competitors advertise. Put your actual hourly rate in the first line of your job ad; candidates compare on it first. To see what a Wyoming hire costs at the wage you actually pay, including payroll taxes, use our employee cost calculator, and for breaks, final pay and hiring rules see Wyoming labor laws.

Frequently asked questions

Part of Boostpoint’s minimum wage by state series.