New York City minimum wage 2026
The minimum wage in New York City is $17.00 an hour in 2026. New York City has no minimum wage law of its own: the rate is New York State's regional rate for New York City, Long Island and Westchester, set by Labor Law section 652. App-based delivery workers have a separate city pay rate.
Contents10 sections
At a glance
| Minimum wage now | $17.00 an hour, since January 1, 202621 |
|---|---|
| Next change | Stays at $17.00 on January 1, 2027 (announced)1 |
| Tipped employees | $11.35 cash wage, tip credit up to $5.6513 |
| Full-time pay | $680 a week, $35,360 a year at 40 hours a week before taxes · calculate for your hours |
| Enforced by | New York State Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards, 888-525-2267 |
What to know about the New York City minimum wage
Searches for the New York City minimum wage lead to a state law: the rate is the downstate tier of the New York State minimum wage.1 That tier reached $15.00 for all employers on December 31, 2021 and then followed a schedule written into the statute: $16.00 on January 1, 2024, $16.50 on January 1, 2025 and $17.00 on January 1, 2026.2 The rest of the state was $1.00 lower in 2026, at $16.00.1
From 2027 the law switches to inflation indexing, based on the three-year average change in the Northeast CPI-W, but it contains off-ramps that stop an increase when certain economic conditions are met. The Department of Labor says one of those conditions was met for 2027, so on January 1, 2027 the rate stays $17.00 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester and $16.00 elsewhere in the state. The Governor has proposed changing the off-ramp rules; that has not become law. Home care aides are the exception: their wage keeps indexing, capped at $3.00 above the general rate, and rises to $20.00 on January 1, 2027.14
The city does set one pay floor of its own. App-based restaurant and grocery delivery workers are paid as contractors rather than employees, and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection guarantees them a minimum pay rate before tips, adjusted every April: $19.56 in 2024, $21.44 in 2025 and $22.13 from April 2026.67
All 2026 rates
Almost every worker in the region, at any size of employer and including fast food workers, is owed the regional rate, $17.00 since January 1, 2026. Home care aides have their own higher state minimum, which rises to $20.00 on January 1, 2027. Hospitality employers may take a tip credit, described below.
| Rate | Applies to | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| New York City, Long Island and Westchester | Work in the five boroughs and in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, all employer sizes, including fast food | $17.0021 |
| Home care aides | Home care aides under Public Health Law section 3614-f working in New York City, Long Island or Westchester$20.00 from January 1, 202714 | $19.655 |
| App-based restaurant and grocery delivery workers (New York City only) | Minimum pay rate, before tips, for delivery workers contracted by third-party delivery apps, for time spent preparing for and making deliveries. Set by the city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection from the first pay period on or after April 1, 2026, and adjusted for inflation each April 1 ($19.56 in 2024, $21.44 in 2025). It is a pay standard for contracted workers, not the minimum wage. | $22.1367 |
| Tipped hospitality service employees (not food service) | Cash wage in 2026, with a tip credit of up to $2.85 allowed only in weeks when tips average at least $3.65 an hour at restaurants and year-round hotels, or $9.55 at resort hotels. | $14.1513 |
| Fast food workers | The same as the regional rate; New York City fast food workers reached $15.00 on December 31, 2018 | $17.002 |
Compared with New York
New York City does not set its own minimum wage: it is one of the wage regions in New York law, so the regional state rate below is the one that applies. When state and federal rates differ, the employer must pay the higher one.
| Minimum wage | Next change | Per hour now |
|---|---|---|
| New York City | Stays $17.00 on January 1, 2027 | $17.00 |
| New York (state) | New York City, Long Island and Westchester: Stays $17.00 on January 1, 2027; Rest of New York State: Stays $16.00 on January 1, 2027 | $16.00 to $17.00 |
| Federal | None scheduled | $7.25 |
New York also sets higher statewide minimums for some jobs, which apply in New York City when they exceed the local rate: Home care aides, NYC, Long Island and Westchester ($19.65); Home care aides, rest of state ($18.65). See the New York page for the rules.
Tipped employees
| Tip credit | Allowed |
|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $11.35 an hour13 |
| Maximum tip credit | $5.65 an hour |
Only hospitality employers may take a tip credit. In 2026 food service workers must get at least $11.35 an hour in cash, a tip credit of up to $5.65; other hospitality service employees get at least $14.15, with a tip credit of up to $2.85 allowed only in weeks when their tips reach set averages. No tip credit is allowed on days with more than two hours, or more than 20% of the shift, of non-tipped work. The same figures apply in 2027.
An employer that takes a tip credit must make up the difference whenever wages plus tips fall short of the full minimum wage for the workweek. See the tipped minimum wage guide.
How the rate changes
From 2027 the rate is meant to rise each January 1 by the three-year average change in the CPI-W (Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers) for the Northeast, unless an economic off-ramp applies.
Rate history
| Effective | Status | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2027 | Announced Off-ramp: no inflation increase | $17.001 |
| January 1, 2026 | In effect now Last step of statutory schedule | $17.0021 |
| January 1, 2025 | $16.502 | |
| January 1, 2024 | $16.002 | |
| December 31, 2021 | Long Island and Westchester reach $15.00 | $15.002 |
Who is covered
Work performed in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island, and in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, for nearly all employers regardless of size.
- Before 2022, New York City employers with 10 or fewer employees followed a slower schedule, reaching $15.00 on December 31, 2019.
- The tip credit was abolished in building service and miscellaneous industries on December 31, 2020.
- The state Department of Labor offers an online minimum wage lookup tool at https://ux.labor.ny.gov/minimum-wage-lookup/.
- Questions and complaints about delivery worker pay go to the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection through 311 or [email protected]; minimum wage complaints go to the New York State Department of Labor at 888-525-2267.
Get help or file a claim
If you are paid less than the minimum wage that applies to your job, you can file a wage claim with the agency below. Federal law prohibits firing or otherwise retaliating against a worker for complaining about federal minimum wage rights.
Sources
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- 3 New York State Department of Labor, Minimum Wage for Tipped Workers Checked Oct 9, 2026 · Back to text ↑
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