Your Guide to 2026 Minimum Wages

Nearly 20 states and more than 40 local jurisdictions will increase their minimum wage rates on January 1, 2026. Below is a summary of these changes and guidelines to help you understand these minimum wage requirements.

State minimum wage increases

The following table covers state minimum wage increases for January 1, 2026. Key points to know:

This table applies only to state-level increases that take effect on January 1, 2026.

State	Hourly minimum wage rate effective 1/1/26
Arizona	$15.15
California	$16.90
Colorado	$15.16
Connecticut	$16.94
Hawaii	$16.00
Maine	$15.10
Michigan	$13.73
Minnesota	$11.41
Missouri	$15.00
Montana	$10.85
Nebraska	$15.00
New Jersey	$15.92 (employers with six or more employees) $15.23 (seasonal employers and employers with fewer than six employees)
New York	$17.00 per hour (New York City, Long Island and Westchester County) $16.00 per hour (rest of the state)
Ohio	$11.00
Rhode Island	$16.00
South Dakota	$11.85
Vermont	$14.42
Virginia	$12.77
Washington	$17.13

Local minimum wage increases

Dozens of cities and counties are also increasing their minimum wage rates effective January 1, 2026. Key points to know:

The information in the table below applies only to local increases that occur on January 1, 2026.
The table includes many of the announced local rate changes for 2026. The table also includes other local jurisdictions that typically make annual adjustments but haven't announced their 2026 rate yet. These are included in the table as “TBD.”

Local jurisdiction	Hourly minimum wage rate effective 1/1/26
Flagstaff, Arizona	$18.35
Tucson, Arizona	$15.45
Belmont, California	$18.95
Burlingame, California	$17.86
Cupertino, California	TBD
Daly City, California	TBD
East Palo Alto, California	$17.90
El Cerrito, California	$18.82
Foster City, California	TBD
Half Moon Bay, California	$17.91
Hayward, California	$17.79 (26 or more employees) $16.90 (25 or fewer employees)
Los Altos, California	$18.70
Menlo Park, California	$17.55
Mountain View, California	$19.70
Novato, California	TBD (100 or more employees) TBD (26 to 99 employees) TBD (25 or fewer employees)
Oakland, California	TBD TBD (Hotel workers with health benefits) TBD (Hotel workers without health benefits)
Palo Alto, California	$18.70
Petaluma, California	$18.31
Redwood City, California	$18.65
Richmond, California	$19.18 (Employer pays less than $1.50 per hour toward medical benefits) $17.68 (Employer pays at least $1.50 per hour toward medical benefits)
San Carlos, California	$17.75
San Diego, California	$17.75
San Jose, California	$18.45
San Mateo, California	$18.60
San Mateo County, California (unincorporated areas only)	$17.95
Santa Clara, California	$18.70
Santa Rosa, California	$18.21
Sonoma, California	TBD (26 or more employees) TBD (25 or fewer employees)
South San Francisco, California	$18.15
Sunnyvale, California	$19.50
West Hollywood, California	$20.25 (non-hotel workers)
Boulder, Colorado	$16.82
Boulder County, Colorado (unincorporated areas only)	$17.99 (however, the 2026 minimum wage for Boulder County may be amended)
Denver, Colorado	$19.29
Edgewater, Colorado	$18.17
Portland, Maine	TBD
Rockland, Maine	TBD
Howard County, Maryland	$15.50 (fewer than 15 employees)
Minneapolis, Minnesota	$16.37
St. Paul, Minnesota	$16.37 (101 or more employees)
Las Cruces, New Mexico	$13.01
Bellingham, Washington	$19.13
Burien, Washington	Consult legal counsel due to ongoing litigation.
King County, Washington (unincorporated areas only)	$19.82 (16-499 employees) $19.82 (15 or fewer employees and annual gross revenue of $2 million or greater) $18.32 (15 or fewer employees and annual gross revenue of less than $2 million)
Renton, Washington	$21.57 (15 to 500 employees worldwide) $20.57 (1 to 14 employees with over $2 million of annual gross revenue in Renton)
Seattle, Washington	$21.30
SeaTac, Washington	$20.74 (Hospitality and transportation employees)
Tukwila, Washington	$21.65

Other wage considerations

Tipped employees

In some jurisdictions, the minimum cash wage required for tipped employees also increases with the minimum wage. For example, in Hawaii, tipped employees must be paid minimum wage, but an employer may take credit for the employee's tips in an amount not to exceed $1.25 per hour. Thus, for an employer to claim the tip credit in 2026 in Hawaii, the employee must receive direct cash wages and tips of at least $16.00 per hour (at least $14.75 per hour of which must be in direct cash wages).

Note: Some jurisdictions, such as California, Minnesota and Montana, don't allow employers to apply a tip credit toward the minimum wage. In such cases, you must pay tipped employees the full minimum in direct cash wages. Check your state and local law for details.

Multiple minimum wage rates

If an employee is subject to more than one minimum wage requirement (such as federal, state and local), you should pay the rate most generous to the employee. For example, if your state minimum wage is $14 and the local minimum wage is $15, you must generally pay the employee at least $15 per hour, since it's higher than the state and federal minimum wage rates. Additionally, if your business is located in one state, but you have employees (such as remote workers) working in another jurisdiction, the minimum wage in the location where the employee performs the work generally applies.

Note: Some requirements may only apply to businesses of a certain size, or employees who perform a certain number of work hours in that jurisdiction. Check your state and local law for details.

Employees earning more than the minimum wage

When the minimum wage increases, some employers provide a raise to employees already earning equal to or more than the new rate. While there's no obligation to provide a raise in such cases, some employees may be expecting one. Consider the potential impact on labor costs, employee morale, internal equity (how employees are paid when compared with other employees within your company based on skills and experience), and your typical merit increase schedule.

New posters and notices

Most jurisdictions require employers to post an up-to-date minimum wage notice in the workplace.

State and federal posters are available for downloading in the HR section of the RUN Powered by ADP® (RUN) platform. ADP clients with the Labor Law Poster Compliance Update Service receive updated posters automatically.

Your state or city may have additional notice requirements. For example, Minnesota employers are required to furnish each employee with a written notice of any change in pay before the change takes effect. Check your jurisdiction's requirements to ensure compliance.

More 2026 increases coming

Some jurisdictions schedule their changes at another point during the year. For example, several state and local jurisdictions will increase their minimum wages on July 1, 2026. Florida will increase its minimum wage to $15 per hour on September 30, 2026.

Overtime exemptions

In some states, including California, Colorado, Maine, New York and Washington, the minimum salary required to be classified as exempt from overtime is tied to the minimum wage or is otherwise adjusted annually with the minimum wage and therefore will also increase on January 1, 2026. We will cover changes to minimum salary requirements for 2026 in an upcoming Tip of the Week.

Note: State and federal law require that certain duties tests also be satisfied to qualify for exemption from overtime.

Conclusion

Ensure that you understand the minimum wage rules that apply to your employees and, if applicable, make any necessary changes in RUN before January 1, 2026. Additionally, be sure to post updated minimum wage notices in each work location.

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