What is this calculator for?
You're a 19-year-old starting your first job at a fast-food chain in Phoenix and the manager tells you the wage is $14.35/hour. You don't know if that's the minimum, above the minimum, or under the legal floor for your state. Or you run a small business in Denver and just got a notice that the city minimum wage is going to $19.29 in 2026 — separate from Colorado's state minimum of $14.81 — and you need to verify what you owe each employee. Or you're a tipped server in DC trying to understand whether your $5.95 base + tips meets the city's tipped minimum requirement. The minimum wage tool gives you the current legal floor for your specific state and city.
US minimum wage is a layered system. The federal minimum has been $7.25/hour since 2009 — the longest period without increase in the program's history. But 30 states plus DC have minimums above the federal floor, ranging from $10.50 (Illinois 2025) to $17.50 (DC 2026 indexed). Many cities and counties set their own higher minimums on top of state law — Seattle ($20.76), San Francisco ($18.67), Denver ($18.81 city minimum vs $14.81 state, 2025 values), Tucson ($14.85). Tipped workers have separate (lower) cash minimums in 43 states; some states (CA, WA, OR, MN, MT, NV, AK, AZ — "no tip credit" states) require full minimum wage regardless of tips.
This calculator looks up your state's and (if applicable) city's current minimum wage for both standard and tipped workers, applies any youth or training-wage exceptions, and shows what an employer must legally pay. Use it to verify a job offer, file a wage claim with your state labor department, or as an employer to confirm compliance.
How to use this calculator
Select your state. The federal $7.25 applies in states without a higher state minimum: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wyoming (state minimum is $5.15 but federal supersedes). Twenty-one states have minimums between $7.25 and $13. Twelve states plus DC have minimums above $13. California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington, and DC have minimums of $15+ as of 2025.
If applicable, select your city or county. Major US cities with local minimum wages above state: Seattle, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Denver, Boulder, Edgewater (CO), Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Chicago, Cook County (IL), Las Cruces (NM), Tucson (AZ), Flagstaff (AZ), Albuquerque (NM), Portland (ME), and most of the large Bay Area counties. Plus all cities in MD's Montgomery and Prince George's counties, all of NY counties bordering NYC. The local minimum supersedes state in these jurisdictions for employees performing work in that geography.
Indicate your worker category: standard adult, tipped worker (if your state has a tipped minimum), youth (under 20 for first 90 calendar days at federal $4.25 training wage, with state variations), student learner (some states allow 75% of minimum for high school/college students in vocational programs), or full-time worker over 20. The calculator applies the appropriate rate.
For tipped workers, also note whether you're in a "no tip credit" state (CA, WA, OR, MN, MT, NV, AK, AZ) where employers must pay full minimum regardless of tips. In all other states, the calculator shows the cash minimum the employer must pay plus the tip credit they can take, plus your total guaranteed minimum (must equal at least state/local minimum after tips; employer must pay the difference if tips don't get you there).
Understanding your results
The calculator returns the applicable minimum wage for your specific situation, including the federal/state/local jurisdiction that applies (always the highest of the three), and the annual full-time equivalent ($X/hour × 2,080 hours = annual gross at minimum). For tipped workers, it shows the tipped cash minimum, maximum tip credit the employer can claim, and guaranteed total.
How to read it. If you're earning at or above the displayed minimum, you're being paid legally. If you're earning below, you have a wage claim — file with your state's department of labor (or the federal Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division if your state has no enforcement). Wage claim recovery typically includes back wages plus interest plus, in many states, liquidated damages (double the back wages) plus attorney's fees. Employers face significant penalties for underpayment.
The annual full-time equivalent tells you what minimum wage actually translates to. $7.25 × 2,080 = $15,080 — below the federal poverty line for a household of two. $15 × 2,080 = $31,200 — slightly above the poverty line for a household of three. $18 × 2,080 = $37,440 — above poverty line for household of four. The "living wage" research (MIT Living Wage Calculator) suggests $20-25/hour is the minimum to support a single adult with no kids in most US cities; $30-35/hour for a single parent with one child. Minimum wage in most jurisdictions does not constitute a living wage by these standards.
For tipped workers, the math gets nuanced. In a tip-credit state with $7.25 federal cash minimum for tipped and $7.25 federal regular minimum, the employer pays $2.13/hour cash plus claims up to $5.12 tip credit. If your tips average $5+/hour you're at federal minimum; if they average less, your employer is legally required to pay the difference. In practice, restaurants often fail to make up shortfalls — wage theft cases against tipped workers are some of the most common labor violations. If you're a tipped worker averaging under federal minimum in a slow shift, your paycheck should reflect the difference; if it doesn't, you have a claim.
A worked example
Marcus, 22, works as a line cook in Denver. His shift wage is $19.50/hour. He wonders if he's being paid fairly relative to minimum wage and what raises he should expect.
Denver minimum wage 2025: $18.81/hour (city minimum). Colorado state minimum 2025: $14.81/hour. Federal: $7.25. Denver's city minimum applies because it's the highest of the three for work performed in Denver. Marcus's $19.50 is $0.69/hour above the city minimum — 3.7% above the floor.
Denver's minimum wage indexes annually with CPI. In 2026 it'll likely rise to roughly $19.30 (assuming 2.5% CPI increase). Marcus's $19.50 would be only $0.20 above the new floor — a 1% margin. If he doesn't get a raise, his real income falls behind inflation. His employer is legally obligated to pay him $19.30/hour starting 2026 (and to track this annually).
Comparison: same line cook job at $19.50/hour in Houston. Texas state minimum: $7.25 (federal default). Houston has no local minimum above state. Marcus's $19.50 is $12.25 above minimum — extraordinary margin (269% above floor). This is because Houston wages aren't compressed against a high legal floor; market wages set by restaurant labor demand are still above market-tier service jobs, regardless of the low minimum.
Now consider Lisa, 26, working as a tipped server in Atlanta. Georgia state minimum: $7.25 federal default. Tipped minimum: $2.13 cash + $5.12 tip credit. Her cash paycheck shows $2.13/hour. She works 35 hours/week at a casual-dining chain. On busy weekends she clears $200+ in tips per shift (about $30/hour effective). On slow Tuesday lunches she might only make $8/hour in tips. Her tip-credit math: weekly hours 35, weekly tips average $385. Effective hourly wage: $2.13 cash + $11/hour tips = $13.13/hour. Above the $7.25 federal minimum, so legal. If her tips averaged below $5.12/hour, her employer would owe the difference; she'd verify by reviewing her weekly tip totals on tax records.
Same Lisa job in San Francisco: city minimum $18.67 for both regular and tipped workers (California has no tip credit). Her cash paycheck would show $18.67/hour plus all tips on top. At 35 hours and $11/hour tip average, she'd gross $1,038/week vs $460/week in Atlanta — a 126% pay difference for identical work. The geography of tipped work is enormous.
State-by-state variations
The five highest state minimums (2025-2026): Washington DC $17.50, Washington state $16.66, California $16.50 (statewide), Connecticut $16.35, New York state varies $15.50-$16.50 by county. Plus city minimums above these in major metros. The five lowest (where state matches or under-falls federal $7.25 floor): Georgia $5.15 (federal applies), Wyoming $5.15 (federal applies), Mississippi (no state minimum, federal applies), Alabama (no state minimum), South Carolina (no state minimum), Louisiana (no state minimum), Tennessee (no state minimum).
Tipped minimum wage state landscape. Forty-three states allow tip credit (federal: $2.13 cash + $5.12 tip credit = $7.25 effective). Seven states require full minimum regardless of tips: Alaska, Arizona, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington. Plus DC (transitioning to no tip credit by 2027). In tip-credit states, employer must verify total compensation (cash + tips) meets minimum each pay period, paying any shortfall. In no-tip-credit states, tips are pure additional compensation on top of full minimum.
Industry-specific carveouts. Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exempts agricultural workers, some seasonal workers, executives/administrators/professionals (white-collar exemptions based on duties and salary level), outside sales, and certain transportation workers. State laws may or may not match. California, for example, requires minimum wage for nearly all workers including agricultural and seasonal — fewer exemptions than federal. New York follows federal more closely.
Indexing. Most state minimums above $7.25 index annually with CPI, with effective dates of January 1 (most common) or July 1. The federal minimum has not indexed since 2009 and requires Congressional action to raise. State indexing creates the situation where a $13 state minimum in 2024 might be $13.42 in 2025 and $13.78 in 2026 — automatic increases that require employer compliance updates each year.
Related resources
For broader compensation context, use the Salary Converter to convert hourly to annual and back. For evaluating job offers including benefits, see the Total Compensation Calculator. For paycheck-level takehome math at minimum wage levels, the Paycheck Calculator. For overtime laws and the regular rate of pay calculation, the Overtime Calculator. The US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division publishes federal and state minimum wage tables and enforces federal wage law. State labor department websites cover state-specific rules and provide wage claim filing portals.