MinimumWageRates

US minimum wage by state, city and county

Try a state (“Ohio”), a city (“Seattle”) or a topic (“tipped wage”).

Menu navigation

Which minimum wage applies: federal, state or city?

A job can be covered by a federal, a state and a local minimum wage at the same time. When the rates differ, the worker is owed the highest one that applies, so the question is which laws cover the job and where the work is done.

Compiled from official sources Last reviewed How we research
Contents6 sections

Key takeaways

  • Where an employee is covered by both state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher rate.⁠1
  • The federal law expressly leaves room for higher state minimum wages and city ordinances.⁠2
  • Local minimum wages usually depend on where the work is done, not where the employer is based.⁠3⁠4
  • On October 28, 2026, 67 cities and counties had a minimum wage law of their own.

The highest rate wins

Minimum wage laws set floors, and the floors stack. The U.S. Department of Labor puts it plainly: where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher rate.⁠1 The Fair Labor Standards Act itself says that nothing in it excuses an employer from complying with a federal or state law or a municipal ordinance that sets a higher minimum wage.⁠2

So the rate you are owed is the highest of:

  1. The federal rate

    $7.25 an hour, if the Fair Labor Standards Act covers your job.

  2. The state rate

    If your state has its own minimum wage law and it covers your job.

  3. The local rate

    If the city or county where you work has its own minimum wage ordinance.

In 25 states, state law does not allow cities and counties to set their own minimum wage, so only the first two apply. The city list names those states.

Where the work is done

State and local minimum wages are tied to a place. A local ordinance generally covers work performed inside the city or county limits, whatever the employer’s address. Los Angeles, for example, covers employees who perform at least two hours of work within the city in a week,⁠3 and San Francisco covers employees, including part-time and temporary workers, who work at least two hours a week in the city.⁠4 The threshold and the details differ from place to place, so each local page states who it covers.

This has practical consequences:

  • Commuters. If you live in one city and work in another, the rate where you work is what counts.
  • Workers who move around. A delivery driver or home care worker who works in several cities in a week may be owed different rates for the hours worked in each, where the local laws reach those hours.
  • Remote work. Rules for employees working from home are not uniform. Some local laws and state agencies address them and others do not; check with the agency listed on the page for the place where you work.

Different rates in the same place

One place can have more than one rate. Some states set different rates by region, such as New York and Oregon, or by employer size, such as Ohio and Montana. Several cities set lower rates for small businesses. And most places allow lower rates for some workers, such as tipped employees, young workers or trainees. Each state and city page lists every rate it sets, with the rules for each.

When there is no state law

Five states, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee, have no state minimum wage law. In those states, and in states whose own rate is below $7.25, employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act must pay the federal $7.25.⁠5 A small number of jobs that neither law covers can be paid less, which is why the federal coverage rules matter; see the federal minimum wage guide.

Sources

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

Was this information accurate? Report an error