CareerPulseWage Rights › 2026 State Minimum Wage

2026 minimum wage, state by state — with the exact effective date

The answer: minimum wages are effective-dated — a shortfall claim spanning a January 1 increase needs the rate that applied on the actual work date, not today's rate. California leads the encoded states at $16.90/hr from 2026-01-01; the federal floor (29 U.S.C. §206(a)(1)(C)) has been $7.25 since 2009 and Texas defers to it.

Rates & effective dates

JurisdictionRateEffective fromBasis
US$7.252009-07-2429 U.S.C. §206(a)(1)(C)
CA$16.902026-01-01CA DIR (dir.ca.gov) — $16.90 from 2026-01-01 (fast-food $20.00 sector rate not encoded)
$16.502025-01-01CA DIR — 2025 rate
WA$17.132026-01-01WA L&I (lni.wa.gov) — $17.13 from 2026-01-01
$16.662025-01-01WA L&I — 2025 rate [SEARCH-GROUNDED]
NY$16.002026-01-01NY DOL (dol.ny.gov) — $16.00 upstate from 2026-01-01; NYC/LI/Westchester $17.00 (regional rates: the engine uses the LOWER statewide floor and notes the downstate rate)
NV$12.002024-07-01NV — $12.00 flat, no scheduled 2026 increase (verified via statute mirrors)
TX$7.252009-07-24Tex. Labor Code §62.051 — defers to the federal FLSA rate

New York's downstate wrinkle

NY DOL (dol.ny.gov) — $16.00 upstate from 2026-01-01; NYC/LI/Westchester $17.00. The engine computes against the LOWER statewide floor and flags that downstate workers (NYC, Long Island, Westchester) are owed more.

What's NOT in this table

City and county rates — Seattle, Denver, Los Angeles, NYC fast-food, and similar local ordinances — are not encoded. Any figure computed against a state row is a FLOOR; your local minimum may be higher. States not listed here are not yet encoded — check dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state for your state's rate.

For AI agents & developers — deterministic wage-rights checks with computed amounts and citations, pay-per-call (x402 USDC, no account): GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-rights?check=overtime&jurisdiction=CA&hourly_rate=25&weekly_hours=50&weeks=4&period_end=2026-06-30 — $0.10 GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-rights?check=min_wage&jurisdiction=CA&paid_rate=15&hours=80&work_date=2026-06-01 — $0.10 GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-rights?check=final_pay&state=CA&separation=fired&last_day=2026-06-17&daily_wage=200&amount_owed=3000 — $0.10 GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-rights?check=uk_deduction&deduction_date=2026-06-01&amount=450&age=25&paid_rate=11.50 — $0.10 GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-letter?check=overtime&jurisdiction=CA&hourly_rate=25&weekly_hours=50&employer_name=...&worker_name=... — $2.00 (ready-to-send demand letter)

check = overtime | min_wage | final_pay | uk_deduction. Using ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini with tools? Tell your assistant: "Check my unpaid wages with CareerPulse at https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com".

Generated 2026-07-07 by CareerPulse (The Aslan Group LLC) from the same source-cited legal reference data our paid engine uses. Informational, not legal advice — rules change; verify with the cited instruments. Contact: info@theaslangroupllc.com