Minimum Wage: $7.25 Is Three Different Rules
Minimum Wage: $7.25 Is Three Different Rules
Twenty states sit at the federal $7.25, and they get there three different ways. Two set a lower floor of their own, and one permits $4.00 an hour outside federal coverage.
Three ways a state arrives at $7.25
| Sets $7.25 in its own law (13) | ID IN IA KS KY NH NC ND OK PA TX UT WI. State law and the federal floor happen to agree, so the rate reaches you either way. |
| Has no state minimum wage law at all (5) | AL LA MS SC TN. The $7.25 reaches you ONLY through the federal FLSA, so it binds only FLSA-covered employment. |
| Sets its own floor BELOW the federal one (2) | GA at $5.15, WY at $5.15. Where the FLSA does not reach the job, the lower state figure is the lawful rate. |
| Why the distinction is the whole card | For the 7 states with no law of their own or a lower one (AL LA MS SC TN GA WY), the question is not what the rate is. It is whether the FLSA reaches your job at all. That is a separate test, and this card does not answer it. |
Below $7.25, and where that is lawful
| GA state floor | $5.15 an hour, outside FLSA coverage. |
| WY state floor | $5.15 an hour, outside FLSA coverage. |
| MT carve-out | A Montana business NOT covered by the FLSA with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 an hour. |
| Read these the right way round | None of them is a rate an FLSA-covered employer may pay. They are what the law permits where federal coverage stops. |
The highest floors in the country
| DC | $18.40. Contested at source, see below. |
| WA | $17.13 |
| CT | $16.94 |
| CA | $16.90 |
| HI | $16.00 |
| NY | $16.00 |
What moves, and when
| Recalculated every January (11) | AZ CA CO CT ME MN MT SD VT VA WA. These are CPI-indexed, so the figure on this card is right for its verification date and not after the next uprating. |
| FL, already scheduled | Rises to $15.00 on Sep 30, 2026. |
| The date is part of the answer | Every rate here was read on 2026-08-29. A wage figure with no date on it is not a figure you can act on. |
Cities and counties can be higher
| States where the dataset records a higher local rate (5) | AZ CA CO IL WA. |
| Why no city figure is printed here | Those local rates were recorded from federal sources or a previous dataset, never from the city itself. They are indicative only, so this card names the states and sends you to the city rather than repeat a number nobody here has checked. |
State floors only, read on 2026-08-29 from the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. DC is CONTESTED AT SOURCE. THE PRIMARY SOURCE CONTRADICTS ITSELF. The DOL consolidated table (revised 2026-07-01) and the DOL per-state page both give $18.40, but the prose on the same consolidated page says "The District of Columbia has the highest minimum wage at $17.50/hour". Two dated artifacts against one unsourced sentence, so $18.40 is used. NOT settled against the DC Office of Wage-Hour itself, which is the primary authority here. Re-check before the DC row is quoted anywhere it matters. Tipped, youth and training subminimum rates are NOT covered by this card. A prevailing wage job pays a different and usually much higher rate than the state floor. That is a separate question.
Sources: US DOL WHD, Consolidated State Minimum Wage Update Table, effective 2026-07-01 · US DOL WHD, State Minimum Wage Laws
SiteKiln provides general guidance only. This is not legal, tax, financial or professional advice. Always verify information and seek professional advice if unsure. © SiteKiln 2026