The 2026 US minimum wage is not a single number. It runs from $7.25 per hour to $17.95, depending on the state. The high end belongs to the District of Columbia at $17.95. The low end belongs to 20 states still anchored to the federal floor of $7.25, the same rate Congress last set in 2009.
The gap between the two ends is 2.5 to 1. A worker doing the same job for the legal minimum earns $17.95 in Washington, D.C. and $7.25 in Dallas. The difference is not skill, hours, or industry. The difference is a state line.
This is the full 2026 picture: who raised, how wide the spread runs, which cities pay the most, and which states have not moved past the federal rate in 17 years.
01 / The top of the range
Five jurisdictions sit at or above $16.00 per hour as of mid-2026. The order is close at the top.
| Rank | Jurisdiction | 2026 minimum | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $17.95 | Jul 1, 2025 |
| 2 | Washington | $17.13 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| 3 | Connecticut | $16.94 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| 4 | California | $16.90 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| 5 | Hawaii | $16.00 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| 5 | New York | $16.00 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | $16.00 | Jan 1, 2026 |
The District of Columbia raised its rate to $17.95 on July 1, 2025, under the annual inflation adjustment written into the D.C. Wage Act of 2016. Washington reached $17.13 on January 1, 2026, through its own CPI-indexed formula, up from $16.66. California applies its $16.90 to every employer regardless of size, which is not true in several other states.
New York is two rates in one state. The base rate is $16.00, but New York City and the downstate counties of Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester pay $17.00. The split takes effect on January 1, 2026, and the state indexes to CPI starting in 2027.
These rates are now well clear of much of Europe. The top US state floors sit above most national minimum wages in the European Union, though the comparison shifts once cost of living and currency enter the picture.
Data table: 2026 US state minimum wage spread (USD/hr)
| Jurisdiction | 2026 minimum (USD/hr) | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $17.95 | Jul 1, 2025 |
| Washington | $17.13 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| Connecticut | $16.94 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| California | $16.90 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| Hawaii | $16.00 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| New York (base) | $16.00 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| Rhode Island | $16.00 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| 20 states at federal floor | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
02 / Who raised in 2026
Most of the movement at the top of the table happened on a single day. On January 1, 2026, a large group of states stepped their rates up under indexing formulas or scheduled legislative increases.
The states that took effect on January 1, 2026 in our data include Arizona at $15.15, California at $16.90, Colorado at $15.16, Connecticut at $16.94, Hawaii at $16.00, Maine at $15.10, Michigan at $13.73, Minnesota at $11.41, Missouri at $15.00, Montana at $10.85, Nebraska at $15.00, New Jersey at $15.92, New York at $16.00, Ohio at $11.00, Rhode Island at $16.00, South Dakota at $11.85, Vermont at $14.42, Virginia at $12.77, and Washington at $17.13.
A second cluster moves mid-year rather than in January. Three states raise on a date other than January 1: Alaska and Oregon on July 1, and Florida on September 30. Alaska rises to $14.00 on July 1, 2026, the second step of a voter-approved schedule that reaches $15.00 in 2027 and then indexes to CPI from 2028. Oregon adjusts on July 1 each year and sat at $15.05 standard through mid-2026. Florida increases every September 30 under Amendment 2, passed in 2020, on a path to $15.00 per hour. The Florida rate was $14.00 from September 30, 2025.
The structural point is larger than any single increase. Many of the raising states no longer vote on dollar amounts. They tie the rate to a state or national price index and let it adjust automatically each year. That choice removes minimum-wage maintenance from the political calendar. It is the main reason the top of the table keeps drifting upward while the federal rate stays fixed.
03 / The cities that pay more than any state
State rates are not the ceiling. Several cities set local minimums that run above every state floor in the country.
The highest is Tukwila, Washington, at $21.65 per hour for large employers, effective January 1, 2026. Tukwila has one of the highest locally mandated minimum wages in the United States. Seattle follows at $21.30, now a single citywide rate after the earlier employer-size tiers were phased out. SeaTac sets $20.74 for hospitality and transportation workers.
The pattern repeats in other states. In Oregon, the Portland metro area pays $16.30 while the state standard is $15.05 and rural counties pay $14.05. In New Mexico, Santa Fe sets $14.60 against a state rate of $12.00. The local rate sits above the state rate wherever a city has the legal authority to set one.
| City | 2026 local minimum | State rate |
|---|---|---|
| Tukwila, WA (large employers) | $21.65 | $17.13 |
| Seattle, WA | $21.30 | $17.13 |
| SeaTac, WA (hospitality/transport) | $20.74 | $17.13 |
| Portland metro, OR | $16.30 | $15.05 |
| Santa Fe, NM | $14.60 | $12.00 |
The single highest legal minimum in the table is $21.65 in Tukwila. The single lowest is $7.25 across 20 states. That is a 3-to-1 range inside one country.
Data table: 2026 city minimum wages versus state floor (USD/hr)
| City | Local minimum (USD/hr) | State rate (USD/hr) |
|---|---|---|
| Tukwila, WA (large employers) | $21.65 | $17.13 |
| Seattle, WA | $21.30 | $17.13 |
| SeaTac, WA (hospitality/transport) | $20.74 | $17.13 |
| Portland metro, OR | $16.30 | $15.05 |
| Santa Fe, NM | $14.60 | $12.00 |
04 / The 20 states still at $7.25
Twenty states have not set a minimum wage above the federal $7.25. They are Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Each of these carries the same effective date in our data: July 24, 2009. That is the day the federal rate last changed. For a worker earning the minimum in these states, the hourly figure on the pay stub has not moved in 17 years.
Five of the 20 have no state minimum wage law at all: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. In those states the federal $7.25 applies by default under the Fair Labor Standards Act, because the state has written nothing of its own.
Texas illustrates how the floor holds. State law adopts the federal minimum by statute. It also preempts localities, so no city or county in Texas may set a rate above $7.25. A worker in Dallas and a worker in Houston face the same legal minimum, with no path to a local raise.
The geography is consistent rather than random. The $7.25 states cluster in the South and the Mountain West. The gap this creates is stark. A full-time worker at $7.25 earns about $15,080 per year before tax at 2,080 hours. The same hours at the District of Columbia rate of $17.95 produce about $37,336.
Data table: the 20 states at the federal $7.25 floor, 2026
| State | 2026 minimum (USD/hr) | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Georgia | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Idaho | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Indiana | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Iowa | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Kansas | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Kentucky | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Louisiana | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Mississippi | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| New Hampshire | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| North Carolina | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| North Dakota | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Oklahoma | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Pennsylvania | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| South Carolina | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Tennessee | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Texas | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Utah | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Wisconsin | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
| Wyoming | $7.25 | Jul 24, 2009 |
05 / What the 2026 map shows
The 2026 data describes one country with two minimum-wage systems running side by side. One system updates every year through indexing and scheduled increases, and now reaches into the $16 to $18 range at the state level and above $21 in the highest cities. The other system has not changed since 2009 and covers 20 states at $7.25.
The spread is the headline. Inside the same labor market, the legal minimum for the same work ranges from $7.25 to $21.65. Where a worker stands on that range is set almost entirely by state and city lines, not by the job.
The federal floor still exists. As more states index their rates and step them upward each year, the floor describes fewer and fewer workers. The 2026 numbers show a country where the real question is no longer what the minimum wage is. It is which minimum wage applies to you. For the wider context, average pay differs even more sharply across borders, as the average salary by country figures show.