Minimum wage in 2024: fifteen years frozen federally, far from frozen by state

In 2024 the US federal minimum wage marked its 15th consecutive year at $7.25 an hour — the longest period without an increase since the federal minimum was first established. But for most American workers that number had already stopped being the one that mattered: by 2024, a majority of states set their own floor well above it, several more than double it, which makes the federal figure a legal minimum in name more than in practice across most of the country.

Fifteen years at $7.25

The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since 24 July 2009. Because it is set in statute rather than indexed to inflation, it takes an act of Congress to move it, and no such change has passed since the 2009 increase took effect. Adjusted for inflation, $7.25 in 2009 buys noticeably less in 2024 dollars — a fact frequently cited in the ongoing debate over raising it, though that debate has not produced a change in either direction for a decade and a half.

What states actually set for 2024

Several state increases took effect on 1 January 2024, part of a long-running pattern of states moving independently of Washington:

California went further for one specific industry: a separate $20 an hour minimum for fast-food workers took effect on 1 April 2024 under state legislation targeting that sector specifically — $4 above the state's own general minimum, and nearly three times the federal figure. The full, current list of state minimums is maintained by the US Department of Labor, since it changes state by state and sometimes city by city.

The tipped minimum wage: frozen for even longer

Sitting underneath the headline $7.25 federal figure is a second number that moved even less: the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 an hour, unchanged since 1991 — 33 years by 2024, more than double the freeze on the standard minimum. Employers are allowed to pay tipped workers this lower direct wage as long as tips bring the total up to at least the standard minimum wage; if they do not, the employer is legally required to make up the difference, a rule known as the tip credit. This varies enormously by state: several, including California, Washington and Minnesota, require the full state minimum wage to be paid before tips regardless of the federal tipped figure, while others follow the federal $2.13 floor exactly. A restaurant server's guaranteed base pay in 2024 could be $2.13 an hour or $16.28 an hour depending entirely on which state the job was in — one of the widest single ranges in US wage law.

What full-time minimum-wage work was actually worth

Converting an hourly rate to an annual figure needs a stated number of hours — the US convention is typically a 40-hour week, 2,080 hours a year:

The gap between the federal figure and the higher state rates is not a rounding difference — it is the difference between $15,080 and $33,862 a year for the same 40-hour week, entirely a function of which state the job happens to be in. The annual salary calculator converts any hourly rate into an annual figure using the hours you actually specify.

How many states actually pay $7.25

By 2024, only a minority of states set no minimum above the federal figure at all — a group that included several southern and central states where no state-level minimum wage law exists, defaulting automatically to the federal rate. The remaining states fell into two broad groups: those that had set a fixed, higher dollar figure by legislation, and a growing number — including several of the states in the table above — that index their own minimum to inflation each year, so it rises automatically without a fresh vote every time. That second group is the more direct contrast with the federal rate: an indexed state minimum moves every January by design, while the federal figure requires an act of Congress that, as of 2024, had not happened in fifteen years.

Gross pay is not what lands in an account

Every figure above is gross, before federal, state and — in many cities — local income tax, which varies enormously by location; a worker on $16 an hour in a state with no income tax keeps considerably more of it than one in a state or city that layers several taxes on top. The wage after tax calculator and the general wage calculator take an hourly figure through to a take-home estimate, which is the number that actually matters for a household budget rather than the headline rate quoted in a policy announcement.

Working out pay when hours are not fixed

Minimum-wage work is disproportionately part-time or on variable schedules, which makes a flat annual figure less useful in practice than a per-shift or per-week calculation. The pro-rata salary calculator and the general salary calculator both work from actual hours worked rather than assuming a standard week, which matters most for exactly the workers these minimum rates are set to protect.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Minimum wage law varies by state and sometimes city, and can change more than once within a year. For a decision about a specific pay situation, check current, local rates directly.