Minimum Wage by State: Current Rates, Tipped Wages, and What’s Changing in 2026
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and hasn’t moved since July 24, 2009. States are free to set their own floor above that, and most do — from Texas and Pennsylvania, still at the federal rate, up to California at $16.90. This page covers the 16 states where Boostpoint runs the most hiring campaigns: California, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, New York, Washington, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Each has its own page below with the tipped wage, local overrides, and what’s scheduled to change next.
The 16 states, at a glance
| State | Current rate | Effective | Tipped cash wage | What’s next |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 | $2.13 | No change proposed |
| California | $16.90 | Jan 1, 2026 | No credit — full minimum | Adjusts every Jan 1 for inflation |
| Florida | $14.00 | Sep 30, 2025 | $10.98 | Rises to $15.00 on Sep 30, 2026 |
| Texas | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 | $2.13 | Tied to federal rate by state law |
| Michigan | $13.73 | Jan 1, 2026 | $5.49 | Rises to $15.00 on Jan 1, 2027 |
| Ohio | $11.00 | Jan 1, 2026 | $5.50 | Adjusts every Jan 1 for inflation |
| Pennsylvania | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 | $2.83 | Increase bills pending, not enacted |
| Illinois | $15.00 | Jan 1, 2025 | $9.00 | Chicago & Cook County run higher |
| Virginia | $12.77 | Jan 1, 2026 | $2.13 (to $12.77 combined) | Set by state legislation |
| New York | $17.00 (NYC/LI/Westchester); $16.00 (rest of state) | Jan 1, 2026 | Varies by region and tier | Annual CPI-indexed adjustment begins 2027 |
| Washington | $17.13 | Jan 1, 2026 | No credit — full minimum | Adjusts every Jan 1 for inflation (CPI-W) |
| Georgia | $7.25 (federal) | Jul 24, 2009 | $2.13 | None — tied to the federal rate |
| North Carolina | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 | $2.13 | None — would require federal legislation |
| Arizona | $15.15 | Jan 1, 2026 | $12.15 | Adjusts every Jan 1 for inflation; Flagstaff runs higher |
| Colorado | $15.16 | Jan 1, 2026 | $12.14 | Adjusts every Jan 1 for inflation; Denver runs higher |
| Massachusetts | $15.00 | Jan 1, 2023 | $6.75 | None currently scheduled |
| New Jersey | $15.92 (most employers) | Jan 1, 2026 | $6.05 | Adjusts every Jan 1 for inflation |
Full pages, with local overrides and compliance notes: California, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, New York, Washington, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
Why the same question has nine different answers
Federal law sets a floor of $7.25 an hour that applies everywhere. States can set a higher floor, and 34 states plus D.C. currently do. Cities and counties can go higher still, on top of the state rate — California alone has dozens of local minimums above its $16.90 state rate, some over $20. The rule for a multi-location employer is simple even when the math isn’t: pay whichever rate is highest for where the work actually happens — federal, state, or local.
How often these numbers move
Some states raise their minimum wage on a fixed legislative schedule — Michigan and Florida are both mid-way through multi-year increases set by law. Others adjust automatically every year for inflation, usually announced in the fall for the following January 1st — Ohio and California both work this way, which is why their “next” rate isn’t a fixed number yet. And several states, including Texas and Pennsylvania, haven’t moved from the federal rate since 2009 and have no scheduled change at all. The pattern that catches employers off guard is the states that adjust automatically: there’s no vote to watch for, just a new number that takes effect on schedule.
What the tipped wage number actually means
A tipped cash wage is the least an employer can pay in direct wages before tips, on the assumption that tips make up the difference to the full minimum wage. If a tipped employee’s wages plus tips don’t reach the full minimum in a given workweek, the employer has to make up the shortfall — that’s true in every state on this list. California doesn’t allow a tip credit at all, so tipped employees there get the full $16.90 in direct wages regardless of tips. Everywhere else on this list, the gap between the tipped cash wage and the full minimum is the tip credit.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the minimum wage for all 50 states?
It ranges from $7.25 in the 20 states still at the federal floor up to $17.13 in Washington and $18.40 in the District of Columbia. This page covers the 16 states — California, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, New York, Washington, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Jersey — where Boostpoint runs the most hiring campaigns; the U.S. Department of Labor’s state minimum wage table covers all 50 plus D.C. and the territories.
Which state has the lowest minimum wage?
Georgia and Wyoming are the only two states with a state-law rate below the federal minimum ($5.15), but federal law still applies to nearly every employer in those states, so $7.25 is the real floor. Twenty states in total sit at exactly the federal rate, including Texas and Pennsylvania on this list.
What states have the highest minimum wage?
As of this page’s last update, the District of Columbia ($18.40), Washington ($17.13), Connecticut ($16.94), California ($16.90), and Hawaii ($16.00) are the highest statewide rates. Several individual cities run higher than any state rate — Emeryville, California hits $20.34 an hour effective July 2026.
Will there be a federal minimum wage increase in 2026?
No. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since July 24, 2009, and no increase is scheduled or pending as of this page’s last update. Any change to the federal rate requires an act of Congress; the movement employers are seeing in 2026 is entirely at the state and local level.
Hiring across more than one of these states?
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Book a DemoPay is only half the local picture. Our unemployment rate by state page has the July 2026 BLS figures for all 51 jurisdictions and what each one implies for how hard a hire will be.