Texas Minimum Wage 2026
The minimum wage in Texas 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 Texas in 2026?
The Texas minimum wage is $7.25 per hour in 2026. The Texas Minimum Wage Act adopts the federal rate by reference, so when Congress last raised the minimum on July 24, 2009, Texas moved with it and has stayed there since.
No federal-rate state comes close to Texas in scale: it has by far the largest hourly workforce among states still at $7.25, spread across Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio. In those metros, the legal floor rarely reflects actual offers. Warehouses, restaurants, and retailers in the big cities typically post starting wages several dollars above $7.25 simply to fill shifts.
Tipped minimum wage in Texas
Texas applies the federal tip credit, making the tipped minimum wage $2.13 per hour in direct cash wages. Employers must ensure tips raise every tipped employee to at least $7.25 per hour across each workweek and pay the difference when they do not.
Given the size of the Texas restaurant industry, the biggest wage-and-hour exposure here is scale: one misconfigured tip pool replicated across dozens of locations becomes a large collective action quickly. Standardize tip credit notices and per-location tip reconciliation before expanding.
Texas 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 Texas
No increases are scheduled in Texas. Because the state statute simply mirrors the federal minimum, the rate changes automatically if Congress acts, and only then, unless the Texas Legislature amends the act, which it has declined to do session after session.
Increase bills filed in Austin have not received floor votes, and the legislature's posture has been to restrict local wage action rather than raise the floor. Multi-state employers should assume Texas stays at $7.25 until a federal increase passes.
Minimum wage by city in Texas
Texas cities cannot set minimum wages for private employers; state preemption keeps the $7.25 rate uniform across Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio. Austin has pushed the boundary, but its living-wage measures reach only city employees and some city contractors, not the private sector.
Across the four giant metros, market wages diverge from the floor dramatically. Austin's tech economy and Houston's energy and port employers bid entry pay up aggressively, while the sheer volume of hourly jobs in Dallas-Fort Worth makes it one of the most competitive staffing markets in the country.
Federal rate; port, energy, and medical-center hiring set real entry wages well above it
Federal rate; the DFW metroplex is among the largest hourly labor markets in the US
Federal rate for private employers; the city's higher living wage covers only municipal workers and contractors
Federal rate; tourism and military-adjacent employers anchor hourly demand
What Texas employers need to know
Coverage
The Texas Minimum Wage Act covers employees not covered by the FLSA, so between the two laws virtually every Texas employee is entitled to $7.25. Exemptions exist for certain family businesses, religious work, and some agricultural roles.
Tipped employees
A $2.13 cash wage is permitted with the federal tip credit. Reconcile tips weekly against the $7.25 threshold and provide written tip credit notice at hire.
Overtime
Texas has no state overtime law, so the FLSA governs: 1.5x the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek, with no daily overtime requirement.
Posting and earnings statements
Post the federal minimum wage notice, and give each employee a written earnings statement each payday showing pay rate, hours, and deductions, as the Texas Payday Law requires.
How other states compare
See how Texas'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 Texas labor department. Minimum wage laws change frequently; confirm current rates with those sources or legal counsel before setting pay.
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