Quick Answer: Washington is the highest minimum wage state in the US at $17.13 per hour in 2026, followed by Connecticut at $16.94/hr and California at $16.90/hr. (Washington, DC sets its own rate as a federal district, not a state, so it isn't part of this 50-state ranking.) Fourteen states now pay $15.00/hr or more, and several cities — including Seattle, Denver, and San Francisco — pay above $18.50/hr.
- #1 Washington: $17.13/hr
- #2 Connecticut: $16.94/hr
- #3 California: $16.90/hr
- #4 (tie) Rhode Island and New York (statewide): $16.00/hr — New York City, Long Island and Westchester County pay $17.00/hr locally
- Highest city in the country: Seattle, WA at $20.76/hr for large employers
- Rhode Island is scheduled to rise to $17.00/hr on January 1, 2027, which would move it into second place, assuming other states' rates stay put
States with the highest minimum wage are concentrated on the West Coast and in the Northeast, where state legislatures and voter initiatives have pushed rates well above the $7.25/hr federal floor that still applies, unchanged, in 20 states. Fourteen states now have minimum wages of $15.00/hr or higher. But naming a single highest minimum wage state depends on how you're counting: by flat statewide rate, Washington leads the pack; factor in local ordinances and one part of New York pays more than Washington's neighbor Oregon, while several cities pay more than every state on this list.
The Top 12 Highest Minimum Wage States in 2026
The table below is built directly from the current statutory rate, tipped-worker rate, and effective date for all 50 states. Six states are tied at exactly $15.00/hr, so the "top 10" naturally stretches to 14 states once every rate is counted — we've listed the top 12 here and grouped the $15.00/hr tier together.
| Rank | State | Hourly Rate | Tipped Rate | Effective Date | How It's Set |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | $17.13 | $17.13 (no tip credit) | Jan 1, 2026 | Adjusts annually via a cost-of-living index |
| 2 | Connecticut | $16.94 | $10.71 | Jan 1, 2026 | Adjusts annually via a state wage index |
| 3 | California | $16.90 | $16.90 (no tip credit) | Jan 1, 2026 | Statutory increases through 2025; inflation-triggered since |
| 4 (tie) | Rhode Island | $16.00 | $3.89 | Jan 1, 2026 | Legislated step — rises to $17.00/hr on Jan 1, 2027 |
| 4 (tie) | New York (statewide) | $16.00 | $10.65 | Jan 1, 2026 | Legislated step; NYC/Long Island/Westchester pay $17.00/hr locally |
| 6 | Oregon | $15.55 | $15.55 (no tip credit) | Jul 1, 2026 | Three-region system, adjusted annually |
| 7 | New Jersey | $15.49 | $5.62 | Jan 1, 2026 | Reached the $15 floor in 2024; adjusts annually since |
| 8 | Arizona | $15.15 | $12.15 | Jan 1, 2026 | Adjusts annually via a cost-of-living index |
| 9 (tie) | Delaware | $15.00 | $2.23 | Jan 1, 2025 | Legislated step increase |
| 9 (tie) | Illinois | $15.00 | $9.00 | Jan 1, 2025 | Legislated step increase |
| 9 (tie) | Maryland | $15.00 | $3.63 | Jan 1, 2024 | Unchanged since 2024 |
| 9 (tie) | Massachusetts | $15.00 | $6.75 | Jan 1, 2023 | Flat since 2023 |
| 9 (tie) | Missouri | $15.00 | $7.50 | Jan 1, 2026 | Legislated step increase |
| 9 (tie) | Nebraska | $15.00 | $2.13 | Jan 1, 2026 | Legislated step increase |
Source: State labor department filings compiled in our wage database, current as of 2026. Tipped rate is the direct cash wage an employer must pay before tips; "no tip credit" means the state requires the full minimum wage in cash regardless of tips.
What These States Have in Common
A few patterns show up repeatedly among the states with the highest minimum wage:
- Automatic annual adjustments. Washington, Connecticut, California, New Jersey, Oregon, and Arizona have all posted non-round, year-over-year increases rather than flat jumps — a signature of formulas tied to inflation or wage-growth indexes rather than one-time legislative votes. Washington's rate, for example, has climbed every January since at least 2021 (from $13.69 to $17.13), and Arizona's followed the same pattern after voters approved cost-of-living indexing.
- No tip credit, in several of them. Washington, California, and Oregon require employers to pay tipped workers the full state minimum wage in cash, with no tip credit at all. Nationally only seven states do this — those three plus Alaska, Nevada, Minnesota, and Montana — and three of the seven are in the top tier of state minimum wages.
- Voter initiatives and multi-year phase-ins. Washington's rate traces back to a citizen ballot initiative, and several of the $15.00/hr states — Missouri, Illinois, and Delaware among them — reached that level through multi-year statutory schedules rather than indexing. Florida is on a similar path: its rate is currently $14.00/hr but is scheduled to hit $15.00/hr on September 30, 2026, which would put it in the $15 tier alongside Missouri, Maryland, Massachusetts, Delaware, Illinois, and Nebraska.
- High cost of living. Washington, Connecticut, California, and New York are consistently among the most expensive states to live in, which is both a driver of higher minimum wages and a reason the real purchasing power of those wages is lower than the sticker number suggests.
Worth watching: Rhode Island's scheduled increase to $17.00/hr on January 1, 2027 would push it past Connecticut and California into second place — still behind Washington, but a reminder that this ranking shifts every year as legislated steps and indexing formulas land.
What This Means in Annual Pay
Hourly differences compound fast over a full work year. The table below assumes a standard full-time schedule of 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year (2,080 hours) — actual take-home pay will vary with overtime, part-time hours, and taxes.
| Rate | Hourly | Weekly (40 hrs) | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal minimum wage | $7.25 | $290.00 | $1,256.67 | $15,080.00 |
| $15.00/hr tier (6 states) | $15.00 | $600.00 | $2,600.00 | $31,200.00 |
| Arizona | $15.15 | $606.00 | $2,626.00 | $31,512.00 |
| New Jersey | $15.49 | $619.60 | $2,684.93 | $32,219.20 |
| Oregon | $15.55 | $622.00 | $2,695.33 | $32,344.00 |
| Rhode Island / New York (statewide) | $16.00 | $640.00 | $2,773.33 | $33,280.00 |
| California | $16.90 | $660.00 | $2,860.00 | $34,320.00 |
| New York City / Long Island / Westchester | $17.00 | $680.00 | $2,946.67 | $35,360.00 |
| Connecticut | $16.94 | $677.60 | $2,936.27 | $35,235.20 |
| Washington | $17.13 | $685.20 | $2,969.20 | $35,630.40 |
| Seattle, WA (large employers) | $20.76 | $830.40 | $3,598.40 | $43,180.80 |
The spread between the federal floor and a big-employer job in Seattle is over $28,000 a year for the same 40-hour work week — a gap that's entirely a function of which state, and in some cases which city, a worker happens to live in.
Cities with Even Higher Minimum Wages
State rates are a floor, not a ceiling. Dozens of cities and counties — mostly in states that allow local minimum wage ordinances — set their own rates above the statewide figure. Here are the highest verified city and county rates currently on the books:
| City | State | Local Rate | State Rate | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | Washington | $20.76 | $17.13 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| Denver | Colorado | $18.81 | $14.81 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| San Francisco | California | $18.67 | $16.90 | Jul 1, 2026 |
| Berkeley | California | $18.67 | $16.90 | Oct 1, 2026 |
| Rockville | Maryland | $18.00 | $15.00 | Jul 1, 2026 |
| Flagstaff | Arizona | $17.85 | $15.15 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| Tacoma | Washington | $17.13 | $17.13 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| Los Angeles | California | $17.28 | $16.90 | Jul 1, 2026 |
| Santa Monica | California | $17.27 | $16.90 | Jul 1, 2026 |
| San Diego | California | $17.25 | $16.90 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| Chicago | Illinois | $17.05 | $15.00 | Jul 1, 2026 |
| New York City / Long Island / Westchester | New York | $17.00 | $16.00 | Jan 1, 2026 |
| Portland | Oregon | $16.45 | $15.55 | Jul 1, 2026 |
| Minneapolis / St. Paul | Minnesota | $15.57 | $11.41 | Jan 1, 2026 |
Rates as of 2026. Seattle's $20.76/hr applies to employers with 501 or more employees; smaller employers (1–500) pay $19.06/hr. Not every state permits this kind of local ordinance — Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, and about 20 others legally preempt cities and counties from setting a minimum wage above the state rate.
The Gap Between the Highest and Lowest
The gap between the highest state minimum wage — Washington at $17.13/hr — and the lowest, the $7.25/hr federal rate that still applies by default in 20 states, is $9.88 per hour. Over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that's a difference of $20,550.40. In practical terms, a full-time minimum-wage worker in Washington earns more than double what a full-time minimum-wage worker in Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia, or 17 other states earns, despite working identical hours. Widen the comparison to include city ordinances and the gap grows further: a worker at Seattle's large-employer rate of $20.76/hr earns nearly triple the federal minimum for the same hours worked.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which state has the highest minimum wage in 2026?
Washington is the highest minimum wage state at $17.13/hr, indexed annually to a cost-of-living formula. Connecticut ($16.94/hr) and California ($16.90/hr) round out the top three. Washington, DC pays more than any state but isn't included in state-level comparisons since it's a federal district, not a state.
Is New York's minimum wage $16.00 or $17.00 an hour?
Both, depending on location. The $16.00/hr rate applies statewide outside of New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, where the local rate is $17.00/hr. Both figures are current as of January 1, 2026.
Do all the highest minimum wage states ban the tip credit?
No. Washington, California, and Oregon require the full minimum wage in cash for tipped workers, with no tip credit. But Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island all allow a tip credit — in Rhode Island's case, a large one, with tipped workers guaranteed only $3.89/hr in direct cash wages as long as tips make up the difference.
Which city has the highest minimum wage in the US?
Seattle, Washington, at $20.76/hr for employers with 501 or more employees (smaller employers pay $19.06/hr). Denver, Colorado ($18.81/hr) and San Francisco and Berkeley, California (both $18.67/hr) are the next-highest verified city rates.
Will any states move into the top 10 or 12 soon?
Florida's rate rises from $14.00/hr to $15.00/hr on September 30, 2026, bringing it into the $15.00/hr tier alongside Missouri, Maryland, Massachusetts, Delaware, Illinois, and Nebraska. Rhode Island's rate rises from $16.00/hr to $17.00/hr on January 1, 2027, which would move it ahead of Connecticut and California into second place, assuming those states' rates haven't also moved by then.
Why do some high-minimum-wage states still allow a large tip credit?
Tip credit policy and overall minimum wage level are set independently in most states, so a state can rank high on the base rate while still allowing employers to count a large share of tips toward it. Connecticut, for instance, is #2 on this list at $16.94/hr but allows a $6.23 tip credit, meaning tipped employees can legally be paid as little as $10.71/hr directly from their employer.
State minimum wage figures are compiled from official state labor department filings and cross-checked against the US Department of Labor's state minimum wage laws page, current as of 2026.
Related: States with the Lowest Minimum Wage · Washington Minimum Wage Guide · Minimum Wage by State
