City and county minimum wages: where the local rate beats the state

Every local rate on file

The table gives each city or county rate in force on October 11, 2026, the date it took effect, the general rate of its state and the difference per hour. Where an ordinance has tiers by employer size or a separate hotel or tipped wage, the general rate for most employers is shown and the state page gives the other tiers.

Why some cities pay more than their state

A local minimum wage is a response to local prices. A state rate is set for an average place, and in a metro area where rent takes most of a paycheck, a state figure that works in a rural county leaves full-time workers short. Cities with high housing costs were the first to act, and the pattern still shows in the data: California alone has 13 local rates on file, concentrated in its most expensive metro areas. Counties take part too: King County in Washington, Denver in Colorado, Los Angeles County in California, Montgomery County in Maryland, Boulder County in Colorado, Howard County in Maryland, Cook County in Illinois, Santa Fe County in New Mexico and Prince George's County in Maryland set rates that apply in their territory. Some county ordinances cover only unincorporated areas, the land outside any city, so a worker in a town inside the county may fall back on the state rate or on the town's own figure.

The power to do this comes from the state. A city has no minimum wage authority of its own unless state law grants it or at least does not take it away, and many states have passed laws that forbid local wage ordinances. That is why local rates cluster in a few states and are absent from the 20 states still at $7.25.

Which rate applies to your hours

What counts is where the work is done, not where the employer is based or where you live. A cashier at a store inside city limits earns the city rate. A delivery driver, a home care aide or a cleaner who works in several places in one week can be owed the city rate for the hours inside the city and the state rate for the hours outside it. Some ordinances add a minimum, for example covering only employees who work at least two hours in a week within the city, so a short visit may not trigger the local rate. When two local rates overlap, as with a city inside a county that has its own ordinance, the higher one generally applies.

The sums are real. In Minneapolis, the local rate adds $4.96 an hour to the Minnesota figure. A full-time worker earns $34,050 a year at the local rate against $23,733 at the state rate. Someone working 25 hours a week gains $6,448 a year from the ordinance.

Dates, indexing and the July 1 cycle

Local rates rarely move in step with their state. Many ordinances adjust on July 1, the start of a city's fiscal year, and 12 rates on file changed on July 1, 2026: Emeryville, San Francisco, Berkeley, Pasadena, Los Angeles County, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Montgomery County, Chicago, Howard County, Cook County and Prince George's County. Others follow January 1 like most states. Most are indexed to a regional consumer price index, sometimes with a cap on the yearly increase, so the city announces the next figure a few months before it takes effect. Announced later figures are added to the state pages as cities publish them. Workers on the edge of a city should check both calendars: a July raise from the city and a January raise from the state can land in the same year.

Local ordinances also carry their own rules beyond the hourly figure. Several set separate rates for hotel workers or for large employers, some allow a smaller tip credit than the state or none at all, and many come with a local paid sick leave law and an office that enforces it. The state page lists those details for each city on file. The tipped minimum wage guide covers how a local rate changes the tip credit.

Checking a paycheck against the local rate

Start with the address where you actually work each day, then find out whether that spot sits inside the city limits or in an unincorporated part of the county; a mailing address with the city's name does not always mean the city ordinance applies. Compare the hourly rate on your pay stub with the local figure in force on each day of the pay period, remembering that a rate that changed on July 1 splits the period in two. If you are paid a salary or by the piece, divide the week's pay by the hours you worked inside the city and compare the result with the local rate. For overtime, the regular rate cannot be lower than the local minimum, so the overtime rate rises with it. Keep a note of the hours spent outside the city if your job moves around, because only those hours can be paid at the lower state figure. Employers inside these cities must usually display a poster with the local rate; if it is missing or out of date, that is worth raising too.

Who enforces a city minimum wage

Larger cities run their own labor standards office, which takes complaints, audits employers and can order back pay. Smaller ones rely on the state agency or on a private lawsuit. If you work inside a city with its own rate and are paid only the state figure, start with the city office named in the ordinance or on the state page; the state labor agency can usually tell you where to file. The office decides the claim, and an employment lawyer can look at cases involving hours split between several cities.

For the state rates that apply everywhere else, see the minimum wage by state page, and for the raises scheduled for next year, the increases guide.