Department of Labor · BLS · EPI · HHS
The Minimum Wage, Then and Now
Every federal minimum wage since 1938, what each one is worth in today’s money, and four published yardsticks for comparing today’s wage with what it takes to live on.
Source data last read . States change rates each January and July; inflation figures update each January.
Federal minimum
$7.25
Since July 2009
1968 minimum
$14.80
In 2025 dollars
Full-time at $7.25
$15,080
A year, before tax
States above $7.25
30
Of 50, plus DC
The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since July 24, 2009, the longest stretch without an increase since it was created in 1938. A full-time year at that rate, $15,080, is below the federal poverty guideline for a single person ($15,960). Prices have not stood still: in 2025 dollars, the $7.25 of 2010 was worth $10.70, so the same wage now buys about 32% less. Its buying power peaked in 1968, at $14.80 in today’s money.
30 states and the District of Columbia set their own, higher minimum; in the other 20 states, employers covered by federal law pay $7.25.
The federal minimum wage since 1938
- In 2025 dollars
- As paid
Hover or focus the chart and use the arrow keys to read any year.
What would it take? Four yardsticks
There is no single right answer to what the minimum wage “should” be, so we show the four most common ways of asking the question, each from a named source. They disagree because they measure different things.
1968 buying power
$14.80
an hour
The federal minimum at its 1968 peak, $1.60, in 2025 dollars: what today’s minimum would need to be to buy as much.
Source: Our calculation from BLS CPI-U
Kept pace with productivity
$42.79
an hour
The 1968 minimum in 2025 dollars, grown in step with output per hour of work in US nonfarm businesses since then (2.89x).
Source: Our calculation from BLS data
Living wage
$20.47–$36.89
an hour
What a modest budget costs per worker: housing, food, childcare, transport, health care, other necessities and taxes, by family type.
Source: Economic Policy Institute, 2026
Poverty guideline
$7.67–$15.87
an hour
The federal poverty guideline for a household, divided by a 2,080-hour full-time year: the poverty line as an hourly wage.
Source: HHS poverty guidelines, 2026
Compare your state and family
Minimum wage in Ohio today
$11.00
State rate · $22,880 a year full-time · Ohio history
This is the rate for most employers; employers with annual gross receipts under $405,000 must pay at least $7.25.
1968 buying power
Our calculation from BLS CPI-U
$14.80
an hour, 2025 dollars
$3.80 an hour above the minimum. Same in every state.
Kept pace with productivity
Our calculation from BLS data
$42.79
an hour, 2025 dollars
$31.79 an hour above the minimum. Same in every state.
Living wage
Economic Policy Institute, 2026
$20.64
an hour, 2025 dollars, per worker
$9.64 an hour above the minimum. Ohio, one adult, no children.
Poverty guideline
HHS poverty guidelines, 2026
$7.67
an hour, 2026 guideline, one earner
$3.33 an hour below the minimum. Ohio, household of 1.
The dark tick on each bar marks Ohio’s minimum. Each card is a different organization’s or a different calculation’s answer to a different question; they are shown side by side, not averaged.
Every state
The current minimum in each state, beside EPI’s living wage for a single adult and, per worker, for two working parents with two children.
| State | Minimum | Living: 1 adult | Living: 2 + 2 kids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $7.25 | $21.76 | $22.93 |
| Alaska | $14.00 | $26.88 | $32.55 |
| Arizona | $15.15 | $27.62 | $29.12 |
| Arkansas | $11.00 | $20.93 | $22.13 |
| California | $16.90 | $31.89 | $34.61 |
| Colorado | $15.16 | $28.82 | $32.58 |
| Connecticut | $16.94 | $28.81 | $34.62 |
| Delaware | $15.00 | $27.78 | $29.16 |
| District of Columbia | $18.40 | $34.06 | $42.02 |
| Florida | $14.00 | $27.43 | $27.85 |
| Georgia | $7.25 | $27.90 | $26.18 |
| Hawaii | $16.00 | $35.59 | $36.02 |
| Idaho | $7.25 | $23.84 | $25.33 |
| Illinois | $15.00 | $26.63 | $26.36 |
| Indiana | $7.25 | $20.99 | $24.19 |
| Iowa | $7.25 | $20.85 | $22.70 |
| Kansas | $7.25 | $21.44 | $22.49 |
| Kentucky | $7.25 | $21.23 | $23.46 |
| Louisiana | $7.25 | $22.45 | $24.03 |
| Maine | $15.10 | $25.36 | $28.82 |
| Maryland | $15.00 | $31.70 | $31.79 |
| Massachusetts | $15.00 | $31.99 | $34.90 |
| Michigan | $13.73 | $21.37 | $23.71 |
| Minnesota | $11.41 | $24.90 | $31.37 |
| Mississippi | $7.25 | $22.46 | $22.49 |
| Missouri | $15.00 | $22.19 | $23.56 |
| Montana | $10.85 | $24.97 | $29.06 |
| Nebraska | $15.00 | $21.98 | $26.91 |
| Nevada | $12.00 | $24.72 | $28.49 |
| New Hampshire | $7.25 | $25.87 | $30.63 |
| New Jersey | $15.92* | $28.63 | $32.82 |
| New Mexico | $12.00 | $21.85 | $25.33 |
| New York | $16.00* | $36.89 | $38.86 |
| North Carolina | $7.25 | $24.25 | $24.45 |
| North Dakota | $7.25 | $20.47 | $23.62 |
| Ohio | $11.00* | $20.64 | $25.25 |
| Oklahoma | $7.25 | $21.67 | $24.33 |
| Oregon | $15.55* | $29.24 | $30.62 |
| Pennsylvania | $7.25 | $22.97 | $26.32 |
| Rhode Island | $16.00 | $23.80 | $27.57 |
| South Carolina | $7.25 | $24.18 | $25.36 |
| South Dakota | $11.85 | $20.96 | $23.40 |
| Tennessee | $7.25 | $23.34 | $23.22 |
| Texas | $7.25 | $22.95 | $23.96 |
| Utah | $7.25 | $26.42 | $28.91 |
| Vermont | $14.42 | $28.93 | $33.64 |
| Virginia | $12.77 | $29.56 | $28.43 |
| Washington | $17.13 | $26.90 | $34.39 |
| West Virginia | $8.75 | $22.80 | $27.74 |
| Wisconsin | $7.25 | $21.74 | $27.61 |
| Wyoming | $7.25 | $22.74 | $26.30 |
- * New Jersey: This is the rate for most employers; employers of fewer than 6 people, and seasonal employment, pay $15.23.
- * New York: This is the rate outside New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, where it is $17.00.
- * Ohio: This is the rate for most employers; employers with annual gross receipts under $405,000 must pay at least $7.25.
- * Oregon: This is Oregon’s standard rate; it is $16.80 in the Portland metro area and $14.55 in nonurban counties.
Every federal increase
| Took effect | Rate | In 2025 dollars |
|---|---|---|
| October 24, 1938 | $0.25 | $5.71 |
| October 24, 1939 | $0.30 | $6.95 |
| October 24, 1945 | $0.40 | $7.15 |
| January 25, 1950 | $0.75 | $10.02 |
| March 1, 1956 | $1.00 | $11.84 |
| September 3, 1961 | $1.15 | $12.38 |
| September 3, 1963 | $1.25 | $13.15 |
| February 1, 1967 | $1.40 | $13.49 |
| February 1, 1968 | $1.60 | $14.80 |
| May 1, 1974 | $2.00 | $13.06 |
| January 1, 1975 | $2.10 | $12.57 |
| January 1, 1976 | $2.30 | $13.01 |
| January 1, 1978 | $2.65 | $13.09 |
| January 1, 1979 | $2.90 | $12.86 |
| January 1, 1980 | $3.10 | $12.11 |
| January 1, 1981 | $3.35 | $11.86 |
| April 1, 1990 | $3.80 | $9.36 |
| April 1, 1991 | $4.25 | $10.05 |
| October 1, 1996 | $4.75 | $9.75 |
| September 1, 1997 | $5.15 | $10.33 |
| July 24, 2007 | $5.85 | $9.08 |
| July 24, 2008 | $6.55 | $9.79 |
| July 24, 2009 | $7.25 | $10.88 |
Sources and methods
Every figure on this page comes from one of the datasets below. Wage rates and poverty guidelines are published by the government. The buying-power and productivity yardsticks are our own arithmetic on BLS data, using the method described under each source. The living wage is the Economic Policy Institute’s estimate, shown as EPI publishes it. Nothing is interpolated, and the four yardsticks are never combined.
History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938–2009
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
- Covers
- Every federal rate change, October 1938 to July 2009
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
The rate for workers covered by the original 1938 Act. From 1961 to 1978 workers brought in by later amendments had lower, phased-in rates, which DOL lists separately. A year’s rate here is the one in force on July 1.
Changes in Basic Minimum Wages in Non-Farm Employment Under State Law: Selected Years 1968 to 2024
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
- Covers
- 1968 to 2024, selected years, as of January 1
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
Basic minimum wages in non-farm employment under state law. Cells are shown as DOL prints them, with stray typesetting marks removed; where DOL gives a range, charts use the highest rate in it. Rates set by the week or day are not converted to hourly.
Consolidated Minimum Wage Table
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
- Covers
- Effective Date: July 1, 2026
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
The current general state rate. Where DOL lists several, by employer size or by region, the one shown is named beside it with DOL’s own footnote; it is not always the first DOL lists. Where a state has no minimum or one below $7.25, employers covered by federal law must pay $7.25.
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, annual average
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Covers
- Annual averages, 1913 to 2025
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
Series CUUR0000SA0. A past wage in today’s dollars is the wage times the later year’s annual average over the earlier year’s. BLS collected no October 2025 prices during that autumn’s lapse in appropriations; for 2025 this uses the annual average BLS published regardless.
Labor productivity (output per hour), nonfarm business sector, index
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Covers
- 1947 to 2025, BLS annual index values
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
Series PRS85006093. Other productivity measures give other answers: the Economic Policy Institute’s often-quoted version uses net productivity of the whole economy, which has grown more slowly than this series, and lands lower.
Family Budget Calculator, 2026 edition: living wage standards
Economic Policy Institute
- Covers
- 2026 edition, 2025 dollars, all 50 states and DC
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
EPI’s “median state living wage” row: the population-weighted median county in each state, assuming all income comes from wages. Figures are per worker. EPI is a nonprofit think tank; its budgets are its own estimates, and its methodology document is linked here.
2026 Poverty Guidelines
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ASPE
- Covers
- 2026; separate figures for Alaska and Hawaii
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
Annual amounts by household size. Converted to hourly over 2,080 hours (40 hours, 52 weeks).
Found something wrong? Our corrections log records every fix we have made, and we would rather hear about an error than have it stand.