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Updated for 2026 · 24 comparisons

Minimum Wage Comparison 2026

Head-to-head statewide minimums — who pays workers more, by how much per hour and per year, plus tip credits, city floors, history since 2020, and scheduled increases. Learn how federal, state, and local layers work, then pick any two states or open a featured corridor.

By Sammy S. · Founder · AuthorUpdated for 2026

Any pair

All 50 + DC

$7.25

Federal floor

$11.15

Largest featured gap

24

Featured pairs

Compare any two states

Opens a dedicated page with scoreboard, hours ladder, and 2020–2026 history.

Featured comparisons

Winner = higher statewide minimum (worker-side). Click through for hours ladder, tip credits, and FAQ.

Browse by state

Open any state profile for tipped wages, city ordinances, scheduled increases, and FAQs.

Alabama flagAlabama$7.25Alaska flagAlaska$14.00Arizona flagArizona$15.15Arkansas flagArkansas$11.00California flagCalifornia$16.90Colorado flagColorado$15.16Connecticut flagConnecticut$16.94Delaware flagDelaware$15.00District of Columbia$18.40Florida flagFlorida$14.00Georgia flagGeorgia$7.25Hawaii flagHawaii$16.00Idaho flagIdaho$7.25Illinois flagIllinois$15.00Indiana flagIndiana$7.25Iowa flagIowa$7.25Kansas flagKansas$7.25Kentucky flagKentucky$7.25Louisiana flagLouisiana$7.25Maine flagMaine$15.10Maryland flagMaryland$15.00Massachusetts flagMassachusetts$15.00Michigan flagMichigan$13.73Minnesota flagMinnesota$11.41Mississippi flagMississippi$7.25Missouri flagMissouri$15.00Montana flagMontana$10.85Nebraska flagNebraska$15.00Nevada flagNevada$12.00New Hampshire flagNew Hampshire$7.25New Jersey flagNew Jersey$15.92New Mexico flagNew Mexico$12.00New York flagNew York$16.00North Carolina flagNorth Carolina$7.25North Dakota flagNorth Dakota$7.25Ohio flagOhio$11.00Oklahoma flagOklahoma$7.25Oregon flagOregon$15.55Pennsylvania flagPennsylvania$7.25Rhode Island flagRhode Island$16.00South Carolina flagSouth Carolina$7.25South Dakota flagSouth Dakota$11.85Tennessee flagTennessee$7.25Texas flagTexas$7.25Utah flagUtah$7.25Vermont flagVermont$14.42Virginia flagVirginia$12.77Washington flagWashington$17.13West Virginia flagWest Virginia$8.75Wisconsin flagWisconsin$7.25Wyoming flagWyoming$7.25

Browse by city

Local ordinances that can exceed either statewide floor in a comparison — Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, and more.

Seattle$21.30 · WAEmeryville$20.34 · CAWest Hollywood$20.25 · CABerkeley$19.61 · CASan Francisco$19.61 · CADenver$19.29 · COSan Jose$18.45 · CALos Angeles (city)$18.42 · CAMontgomery County (large employers)$18.00 · MDSan Diego$17.75 · CAChicago$17.05 · ILNew York City$17.00 · NYCook County (unincorporated)$15.40 · IL

What this minimum wage comparison covers

Each state-vs-state page lines up the same legal floor metric for 2026: the statewide hourly minimum, full-time annual gross at 40 hours/week, tip-credit cash wages, major city ordinances, scheduled increases, and DOL January 1 history since 2020. The winner is the higher statewide floor for workers—not average wages or take-home pay.

Statewide floor

The legal hourly minimum that applies outside higher local ordinances.

FT annual gap

Hourly gap × 40 hrs × 52 weeks — gross income difference before taxes.

Tip credits

Whether employers may pay a lower cash wage if tips make up the rest.

City floors

Major local rates that can exceed the state minimum for hours worked there.

Example city floors: Seattle, San Francisco, New York City, and Denver. Browse all city profiles or open any state rate page.

Wage layers

Federal, state, and local minimum wages work in layers

Workers are owed the highest applicable rate among federal FLSA, state law, and local ordinances for the hours worked in that jurisdiction. Comparing two state floors is the starting point—not the full payroll answer for multi-city employers.

Federal FLSA

The federal floor remains $7.25/hour (unchanged since July 24, 2009).

State minimum

Most states set a higher floor. States at the federal rate still show $7.25 here.

Local ordinances

Cities and counties can require more than the state rate for work performed locally.

Tipped wages

Where tip credits are allowed, cash wages can be lower if tips bring workers to the full minimum.

Planning guide

How to compare state minimum wages

Use the pair picker for any two states, or open a featured corridor. Read the scoreboard first, then tip credits, city floors, and history before modeling take-home pay.

    1

    Pick the corridor

    Search demand is usually “State A vs State B minimum wage”—both URL directions exist.

    2

    Read the hourly gap

    The higher statewide floor wins. Convert the gap to weekly and annual gross at 40 hours.

    3

    Check tip credits

    Restaurant and hospitality pay can look very different when one state allows a tip credit.

    4

    Scan city floors

    A lower state rate can still mean a high local wage in major metros.

    5

    Review scheduled raises

    CPI indexing and phased increases can close or widen gaps mid-year.

    6

    Model take-home

    Gross floors are not net pay—run hours through the hourly and US tax calculators.

Before you rely on a minimum wage comparison

Confirm the effective date

Rates here are for 2026. Many states change on January 1 or July 1—verify with the state labor agency.

Match the work location

Pay the highest applicable federal, state, or local rate for hours worked in that place.

Separate tipped from non-tipped

Tip-credit cash wages are not the same as the full minimum owed after tips.

Remember overtime and youth rates

FLSA overtime, training wages, and other exemptions are outside the statewide floor comparison.

Do not treat gross as take-home

State income tax, FICA, and cost of living can offset a higher wage floor.

Use both URL directions

People search both “A vs B” and “B vs A”—each page carries the same scoreboard data.

Who these comparisons help

Wage floors matter for different decisions. Use the right follow-up tool after you pick a winner on the legal minimum.

Job seekers & movers

See how much more (or less) the legal floor pays before comparing housing and taxes.

Small employers

Benchmark competitor states and check whether tip credits or city floors change payroll.

Students & researchers

Pair current rates with 2020–2026 DOL history to see which states indexed upward.

Payroll & HR

Confirm which state is higher, then verify local ordinances for each worksite.

Policy watchers

Large gaps often pit CPI-indexed states against federal-floor states still at $7.25.

Take-home planners

After the floor comparison, open state tax take-home tools for net pay at the same hours.

How to read the comparison rankings

Winner

Higher statewide hourly minimum for workers. Ties share the same floor.

Gap / hr

Absolute difference between the two statewide rates—not vs federal alone.

FT / yr

Gross annual difference at 40 hrs/week × 52 weeks before taxes.

Not modeled

Every locality, industry exemption, training wage, or overtime rule.

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