Tennessee Minimum Wage 2026
The minimum wage in Tennessee is $7.25 per hour in 2026, effective July 24, 2009. Tipped employees can be paid a cash wage of $2.13 per hour, as long as tips bring them to the full minimum.
What is the minimum wage in Tennessee in 2026?
Tennessee is one of the handful of states with no minimum wage statute of its own, so the federal rate of $7.25 per hour is the minimum wage in Tennessee in 2026. That rate has been fixed since July 24, 2009 and applies through the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Few states illustrate the gap between the legal floor and real pay like Tennessee. Nashville's decade-long boom in healthcare, entertainment, and corporate relocations has made $7.25 essentially a theoretical number in Middle Tennessee, while employers in Memphis and smaller markets see somewhat more postings near the floor.
Tipped minimum wage in Tennessee
Tennessee follows the federal tipped wage rules, so the tipped minimum is $2.13 per hour in cash wages with the full tip credit available. Combined cash wages and tips must equal at least $7.25 per hour for every workweek.
With Nashville and Memphis both running large restaurant and live-music economies, tip credit mistakes are a common source of wage claims. Invalid tip pools that include managers, or unpaid side work, can void the credit entirely and expose the employer to back pay at the full $7.25 rate.
Tennessee minimum wage history: 2020 to 2026
| Year | Minimum wage | Tipped wage |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $7.25 | $2.13 |
| 2021 | $7.25 | $2.13 |
| 2022 | $7.25 | $2.13 |
| 2023 | $7.25 | $2.13 |
| 2024 | $7.25 | $2.13 |
| 2025 | $7.25 | $2.13 |
| 2026 | $7.25 | $2.13 |
Upcoming minimum wage increases in Tennessee
There are no scheduled increases in Tennessee. Because the state has never enacted its own minimum wage law, the rate moves only if Congress raises the federal minimum or the General Assembly passes a first-ever state wage statute.
Minimum wage bills appear in Nashville's legislature most years and are routinely voted down in committee. For workforce planning purposes, treat the $7.25 legal floor as fixed and budget instead around Tennessee's metro market rates, which have climbed steadily since 2020.
Minimum wage by city in Tennessee
A 2013 Tennessee preemption law bars cities and counties from mandating local minimum wages, so Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga all share the $7.25 federal floor.
Nashville deserves special mention because searches for its minimum wage vastly outnumber the rest of the state. The answer is the same $7.25, but almost no Nashville employer can hire at it: hospitality, healthcare support, and warehouse roles in the metro commonly advertise at double the legal minimum or more.
Federal rate; the metro's boom means advertised hourly pay typically starts far above the legal minimum
Federal rate; logistics giants around the airport set the effective wage floor for warehouse work
Federal rate; university and Oak Ridge-linked employers shape local pay
Federal rate; auto manufacturing growth pulls hourly wages upward
What Tennessee employers need to know
FLSA coverage
Tennessee has no state minimum wage act, so obligations flow from the federal FLSA, which covers enterprises with $500,000 or more in annual revenue and most employees in interstate commerce.
Tipped employees
Pay a cash wage of at least $2.13 and verify weekly that tips lift total pay to $7.25 per hour. Keep tip pool membership limited to customarily tipped roles.
Overtime
Federal overtime applies: 1.5x the regular rate beyond 40 hours in a workweek. Tennessee imposes no additional daily overtime rules.
Posting and records
Display the federal minimum wage poster and keep three years of payroll records. Tennessee requires a separate break rule: a 30-minute unpaid meal break for shifts of six consecutive hours or more.
How other states compare
See how Tennessee's $7.25 rate stacks up against other state minimum wages in 2026, or browse the full minimum wage index for all 50 states.
Last verified:
Sources: the US Department of Labor's state minimum wage table and official announcements from the Tennessee labor department. Minimum wage laws change frequently; confirm current rates with those sources or legal counsel before setting pay.
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