Portland minimum wage 2026
The minimum wage in Portland is $16.75 an hour in 2026, $1.65 above the Maine rate of $15.10. It rises to $17.75 on January 1, 2027. Portland's rate is set by voters as much as by the City Council: a referendum on November 4, 2025 fixed $17.75 for 2027 and $19.00 for 2028, with inflation indexing from 2029. Tipped service workers may be paid half the city minimum in cash, and work during a declared city emergency earns time and a half.
Contents11 sections
At a glance
| Minimum wage now | $16.75 an hour, since January 1, 20261 |
|---|---|
| Next change | $17.75 on January 1, 2027 (set in law)1 |
| Tipped employees | $8.38 cash wage, tip credit up to $8.3713 |
| Full-time pay | $670 a week, $34,840 a year at 40 hours a week before taxes · calculate for your hours |
| Enforced by | City of Portland, City Manager's Office |
What to know about the Portland minimum wage
Portland's minimum wage is Chapter 33 of the City Code adopted in 2015 and in force from January 1, 2016. Voters have amended it three times since, in November 2020, November 2024 and November 2025. Under the code as it stood after the 2020 vote, the rate rose to $13.00 in 2022, $14.00 in 2023 and $15.00 in 2024.213 The latest vote set $16.75 for 2026, $17.75 for 2027 and $19.00 for 2028, with Northeast inflation indexing to follow from 2029.1
The ordinance also carries a hazard-pay rule: during a city emergency proclamation that covers a workplace, employees working there must get 1.5 times the minimum wage. Remote work does not count.1
For tipped service workers, the tip credit can be no more than half the city rate, so the cash wage must be at least half of $16.75 in 2026 and half of $17.75 in 2027, against Maine's tipped cash wage of $7.55 in 2026.15
Complaints go to the City Manager's office. The ordinance sets penalties of at least $100 per day for each affected employee and lets workers sue, with attorney's fees, and employers must hand new hires a written notice of the Portland rate with their first paycheck.1 The Maine Department of Labor lists Portland and Rockland as the two Maine municipalities with local minimum wage ordinances.5
All 2026 rates
| Rate | Applies to | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Citywide rate | All employees of employers with a place of business in Portland, for work in the city$17.75 from January 1, 20271 | $16.751 |
| City of Portland employees | The city's own employees moved to $16.75 on July 1, 2026, six months after private employers. | $16.751 |
| Work during a declared city emergency | 1.5 times the Portland minimum wage for work done in a workplace covered by a city emergency proclamation; telework does not qualify. | See rule1 |
Compared with Maine
When a local minimum wage, the state minimum wage and the federal minimum wage differ, the employer must pay the highest one that applies to the work. For most covered work in Portland, that is the local rate.
| Minimum wage | Next change | Per hour now |
|---|---|---|
| Portland | $17.75 on January 1, 2027 | $16.75 |
| Maine (state) | $15.70 on January 1, 2027 | $15.10 |
| Federal | None scheduled | $7.25 |
Tipped employees
| Tip credit | Allowed |
|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $8.38 an hour13 |
| Maximum tip credit | $8.37 an hour |
Service employees, defined by the state tip threshold ($191 a month in 2026, $199 from January 1, 2027), may be paid a cash wage of at least half the Portland minimum, and tips must make up the rest of the full city rate. Tips belong to the employee, though valid tip pools are allowed.
How the rate changes
The 2025 referendum set fixed steps: $16.75 on January 1, 2026, $17.75 on January 1, 2027 and $19.00 on January 1, 2028. From January 1, 2029 the rate rises each year by the August-to-August change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Northeast, rounded to the nearest 5 cents. If Maine's minimum ever passes Portland's, the city rate rises to match it.
The $17.75 rate for January 1, 2027 is written into City Code section 33.7(b), so no separate announcement is needed.
Rate history
| Effective | Status | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2028 | Set in law | $19.001 |
| January 1, 2027 | Set in law | $17.751 |
| January 1, 2026 | In effect now 2025 referendum schedule | $16.751 |
| January 1, 2024 | $15.00 step (2020 referendum) | $15.0023 |
| January 1, 2023 | $14.002 | |
| January 1, 2022 | $13.002 |
Who is covered
Employers with a place of business in Portland, including the City itself, must pay the Portland rate for every hour their employees work inside city limits, whether full-time, part-time, seasonal or temporary. There is no employer-size threshold; workers excluded from the definition of employee under Maine law (26 M.R.S. section 663(3)) are not covered.
- Portland's ordinance dates from 2015 and took effect January 1, 2016; voters amended it by referendum in November 2020, November 2024 and November 2025.
- The City Council may amend or repeal the 2025 referendum changes without another public vote.
- Employers must post the city's minimum wage notice and a copy of the ordinance, keep payroll records for three years, and give each new employee a notice of the Portland rate with the first paycheck.
- Maine's statewide minimum is $15.10 for 2026 and $15.70 from January 1, 2027, with tipped cash wages of $7.55 and $7.85.
Other local rates in Maine
- Rockland$16.00
Everywhere else in Maine, the state rate applies.
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.
| Agency | City of Portland, City Manager's Office |
|---|---|
| The law | Portland City Code Chapter 33 (Minimum Wage), as amended by referendum 2025-11-04, effective 2026-01-01 |
| Federal | U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, 1-866-487-9243 |
Sources
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- 4 City of Portland, Maine, Minimum Wage Checked Oct 9, 2026
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