Washington DC Minimum Wage 2026
The minimum wage in Washington DC is $18.40 per hour in 2026, effective July 1, 2026. Tipped employees can be paid a cash wage of $10.30 per hour, as long as tips bring them to the full minimum.
What is the minimum wage in Washington DC in 2026?
The Washington DC minimum wage is $18.40 per hour as of July 1, 2026, the highest rate of any state or the District in the country. DC adjusts its rate every July 1 based on the Consumer Price Index for the Washington metropolitan area, so the figure moves on a different schedule than most states, which adjust each January.
Because DC is a single city-county jurisdiction, there's no patchwork of local ordinances to track the way there is in California or Illinois. The main compliance wrinkle is coverage: DC's minimum wage law reaches beyond employers physically based in the District, so employers in Maryland, Virginia, and elsewhere need to check whether any of their employees work inside DC often enough to be covered.
Washington DC minimum wage calculator
Estimate weekly, monthly, and yearly pay at the Washington DC minimum wage. Hours over 40 in a week are figured at 1.5x the hourly rate.
Figures are pre-tax gross estimates based on 52 paid weeks a year. Take-home pay will be lower after federal, state, and payroll taxes and any deductions.
Tipped minimum wage in Washington DC
DC's tipped minimum wage is $10.30 per hour as of July 1, 2026. Employers must still make up the difference in cash if an employee's tips, combined with the cash wage, don't add up to the full $18.40 minimum wage for the pay period.
Voters approved Initiative 82 in November 2022 to fully eliminate the tip credit by 2027. In 2025, the DC Council amended that timeline: the tipped wage was frozen at $10.00 through June 30, 2026, then resumed rising as a percentage of the full minimum wage. It's scheduled to reach 60 percent in 2028 and climb 5 percentage points every two years after that, capping at 75 percent of the full minimum wage in 2034 rather than reaching full parity.
Washington DC minimum wage history: 2020 to 2026
| Year | Minimum wage | Tipped wage |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $15.00 | $5.00 |
| 2021 | $15.20 | $5.05 |
| 2022 | $16.10 | $5.35 |
| 2023 | $17.00 | $8.00 |
| 2024 | $17.50 | $10.00 |
| 2025 | $17.95 | $10.00 |
| 2026 | $18.40 | $10.30 |
Rates take effect each July 1 under the Fair Shot Minimum Wage Amendment Act. In 2025, the DC Council amended Initiative 82 to slow the tip credit phase-out while keeping the eventual elimination in place, just on a longer timeline.
Upcoming minimum wage increases in Washington DC
DC's minimum wage adjusts every July 1 based on the Consumer Price Index for the Washington metropolitan area, so the exact figure isn't finalized until the prior year's CPI data is published. The Department of Employment Services (DOES) posts the confirmed rate a few months ahead of each July 1 effective date.
The tipped minimum wage follows the amended Initiative 82 schedule: it rose to 56 percent of the full minimum wage ($10.30) on July 1, 2026, after being frozen at $10.00. It's set to reach 60 percent in 2028, then increase 5 percentage points every two years until it caps at 75 percent of the full minimum wage in 2034.
Minimum wage by city in Washington DC
Washington, DC is a single city-county jurisdiction, so unlike states with dozens of local ordinances, there's only one minimum wage rate to track across all eight wards.
The rule to watch instead is coverage: any employee, DC-based or not, who performs more than two hours of work inside the District in a single workweek must be paid at least the DC rate for those hours, even if their employer is headquartered in Maryland, Virginia, or elsewhere.
Single rate applies uniformly across all eight wards; no separate municipal minimums
What Washington DC employers need to know
Coverage extends beyond DC-based employers
Any employee who performs more than two hours of work in the District within one workweek must be paid the DC minimum wage for those hours, regardless of where the employer is based. This catches many Maryland- and Virginia-based employers with staff who occasionally work on-site in DC.
The tip credit is shrinking, not disappearing on the original schedule
Under the amended Initiative 82 schedule, the tipped cash wage rose to $10.30 per hour on July 1, 2026, after being frozen at $10.00. It's set to keep climbing every two years until it caps at 75 percent of the full minimum wage in 2034. Employers must still make up the difference if tips don't bring pay to $18.40.
Living Wage Act sets a higher floor for contractors
Employers with DC government contracts or government assistance of $100,000 or more (or subcontracts of $15,000 or more) must pay the Living Wage rate, which DOES has aligned with the minimum wage at $18.40 per hour as of July 1, 2026.
Overtime follows federal rules
Unlike California, DC does not require daily overtime. Non-exempt employees are owed 1.5x their regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek under the FLSA, and DC has no state-specific salary threshold beyond the federal exemption tests.
How Washington DC compares to nearby states
See how Washington DC's $18.40 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 Washington DC labor department. Minimum wage laws change frequently; confirm current rates with those sources or legal counsel before setting pay.
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