Source figures · 2026
Minimum Wage by State, Compared With What the Typical Worker Earns
Each state’s minimum wage as a share of its median hourly wage. A $15 minimum is a different thing in a state where the typical worker earns $21 an hour than in one where they earn $30.
Source data last read . The Department of Labor revises its table when a state rate changes; the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wages once a year.
Highest state
65.27%
Missouri, 2026
Lowest state
26.98%
New Hampshire, 2026
Middle state
47.70%
Median of the 50 states, 2026
Spread
2.4×
Missouri against New Hampshire
All 50 states, highest to lowest
District of Columbia: 41.81%. Shown separately and left out of the ranking and the median, because a single city that also carries state-level functions is not comparable with a state.
Where each figure comes from
Each row is our division of a Department of Labor rate by a Bureau of Labor Statistics median wage, both printed in the row so you can redo it. Nothing here is estimated or filled in by us.
| State | Share of median wage | Source figures |
|---|---|---|
| Missouri | 65.27% | $15.00 state minimum wage ÷ $22.98 median hourly wage |
| Nebraska | 63.69% | $15.00 state minimum wage ÷ $23.55 median hourly wage |
| Arizona | 62.94% | $15.15 state minimum wage ÷ $24.07 median hourly wage |
| Oregon † | 61.31% | $16.80 state minimum wage ÷ $27.40 median hourly wage |
| Maine | 61.06% | $15.10 state minimum wage ÷ $24.73 median hourly wage |
| Florida | 60.82% | $14.00 state minimum wage ÷ $23.02 median hourly wage |
| California | 60.36% | $16.90 state minimum wage ÷ $28.00 median hourly wage |
| Illinois | 60.05% | $15.00 state minimum wage ÷ $24.98 median hourly wage |
| Delaware | 59.78% | $15.00 state minimum wage ÷ $25.09 median hourly wage |
| New York † | 59.25% | $17.00 state minimum wage ÷ $28.69 median hourly wage |
| Hawaii | 59.08% | $16.00 state minimum wage ÷ $27.08 median hourly wage |
| Connecticut | 59.02% | $16.94 state minimum wage ÷ $28.70 median hourly wage |
| Rhode Island | 58.61% | $16.00 state minimum wage ÷ $27.30 median hourly wage |
| Michigan | 57.96% | $13.73 state minimum wage ÷ $23.69 median hourly wage |
| Washington | 56.57% | $17.13 state minimum wage ÷ $30.28 median hourly wage |
| New Jersey † | 56.53% | $15.92 state minimum wage ÷ $28.16 median hourly wage |
| Vermont | 53.19% | $14.42 state minimum wage ÷ $27.11 median hourly wage |
| New Mexico | 52.86% | $12.00 state minimum wage ÷ $22.70 median hourly wage |
| Colorado | 52.73% | $15.16 state minimum wage ÷ $28.75 median hourly wage |
| Arkansas | 52.43% | $11.00 state minimum wage ÷ $20.98 median hourly wage |
| Maryland | 52.43% | $15.00 state minimum wage ÷ $28.61 median hourly wage |
| Nevada | 52.38% | $12.00 state minimum wage ÷ $22.91 median hourly wage |
| South Dakota | 52.36% | $11.85 state minimum wage ÷ $22.63 median hourly wage |
| Massachusetts | 49.07% | $15.00 state minimum wage ÷ $30.57 median hourly wage |
| Alaska | 47.73% | $14.00 state minimum wage ÷ $29.33 median hourly wage |
| Virginia | 47.68% | $12.77 state minimum wage ÷ $26.78 median hourly wage |
| Ohio † | 46.34% | $11.00 state minimum wage ÷ $23.74 median hourly wage |
| Montana | 46.31% | $10.85 state minimum wage ÷ $23.43 median hourly wage |
| Minnesota | 41.70% | $11.41 state minimum wage ÷ $27.36 median hourly wage |
| West Virginia | 40.17% | $8.75 state minimum wage ÷ $21.78 median hourly wage |
| Mississippi | 37.58% | $7.25 federal minimum wage (the state has none of its own, or a lower one) ÷ $19.29 median hourly wage |
| Louisiana | 33.12% | $7.25 federal minimum wage (the state has none of its own, or a lower one) ÷ $21.89 median hourly wage |
| Oklahoma | 33.07% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $21.92 median hourly wage |
| Alabama | 33.01% | $7.25 federal minimum wage (the state has none of its own, or a lower one) ÷ $21.96 median hourly wage |
| South Carolina | 32.44% | $7.25 federal minimum wage (the state has none of its own, or a lower one) ÷ $22.35 median hourly wage |
| Kentucky | 32.14% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $22.56 median hourly wage |
| Tennessee | 31.83% | $7.25 federal minimum wage (the state has none of its own, or a lower one) ÷ $22.78 median hourly wage |
| Indiana | 31.51% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $23.01 median hourly wage |
| Idaho | 31.44% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $23.06 median hourly wage |
| North Carolina | 31.44% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $23.06 median hourly wage |
| Kansas | 31.41% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $23.08 median hourly wage |
| Georgia | 31.30% | $7.25 federal minimum wage (the state has none of its own, or a lower one) ÷ $23.16 median hourly wage |
| Iowa | 31.06% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $23.34 median hourly wage |
| Texas | 31.01% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $23.38 median hourly wage |
| Pennsylvania | 30.35% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $23.89 median hourly wage |
| Utah | 30.10% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $24.09 median hourly wage |
| Wyoming | 30.00% | $7.25 federal minimum wage (the state has none of its own, or a lower one) ÷ $24.17 median hourly wage |
| Wisconsin | 30.00% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $24.17 median hourly wage |
| North Dakota | 28.74% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $25.23 median hourly wage |
| New Hampshire | 26.98% | $7.25 minimum wage (the state rate equals the federal rate) ÷ $26.87 median hourly wage |
| District of Columbia | 41.81% | $18.40 state minimum wage ÷ $44.01 median hourly wage |
How this relates to the freedom index
This is one of the individual policy variables the state index is being rebuilt onto, in the Economic Freedom category. In the published catalog a lower figure counts as freer, with this reasoning: Expressed as a ratio rather than a dollar figure so a high-wage and a low-wage state are compared on equivalent terms.
It is not part of any state’s score yet. Today’s scores still come from published third-party indices, and this page shows the source figure on its own. The full variable list, with every weight, is on the data page.
Sources and methods
Every figure on this page comes from one of the datasets below and nowhere else. Nothing is estimated, interpolated or carried over from a previous edition. Where two sources measure something similar, they are reported separately rather than combined, because they are not measuring the same thing.
Wage and Hour Division, Consolidated State Minimum Wage Update Table
US Department of Labor
- Covers
- Rates effective 1 July 2026, 50 states and DC
- Last read
- October 18, 2026
The Department lists one rate for most states and two or three for a few, where the rate depends on employer size or region. Exemptions, subminimum rates and local rates are not in the table.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: hourly median wage, all occupations, by state
US Department of Labor
- Covers
- May 2025, 50 states and DC
- Last read
- October 18, 2026
A survey of employers covering wage and salary workers; the self-employed are not included. The series are OEUS followed by the state FIPS code, for all occupations in all industries, data type 08 (hourly median wage).
Found something wrong? Our corrections log records every fix we have made, and we would rather hear about an error than have it stand.