Changes in Basic Minimum Wages in Non-Farm Employment Under State Law: Selected Years 1968 to 2023

Sources:

1) Wage data for the years 1968 through 1998 was obtained from the Book of the States, 1968 - 1999 edition, volume 32 which was published by the Council of State Governments.

2) Wage data for the years 2000 through the present was obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of State Standards Programs Wage and Hour Division web site Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay Standards Applicable to Nonsupervisory NONFARM Private Sector Employment Under State and Federal Laws.

Note:

Wage rates are for January 1 of each year except 1968 and 1972, which show rates as of February. A range of rates, as in Puerto Rico, reflects which rates differ by industry, occupation or other factors, as established under a wage-board type law. Wage rates in bold indicate an increase over the previous year's rate.

Key:

... - not applicable

N.A. - not available

(a) - under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the two rates shown in 1968, 1970, and 1976 reflect the former multiple-track minimum-wage system in effect from 1961 to 1978. The lower rate applied to newly covered persons brought under the act by amendments, whose rates were gradually phased in. A similar dual-track system was also in effect in certain years under the laws in Connecticut, Maryland, and Nevada.

(b) - For the years indicated, the laws in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio, Utah, and Wisconsin applied only to women and minors.

[c] - Rates applicable to employers of four or more.

(d) - Rates applicable to employers of six or more. In West Virginia, applicable to employers of six or more in one location.

(e) - Rates applicable to employers of two or more.

(f) - For the years 1988 to 1990, Minnesota had a two tier schedule with the higher rate applicable to employers covered by the FLSA and the lower rate to employers not covered by the FLSA.

(g) - Minnesota sets a lower rate for enterprises with annual receipts of less than $500,000 ($4.90, January 1, 1998-January 1, 2005). The dollar amount prior to September 1, 1997 was $362,500 ($4.00 - January 1, 1991-January 1, 1997); Montana sets a lower rate for businesses with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less ($4.00 - January 1, 1992-January 1, 2005); Ohio sets a lower rate for employers with gross annual sales from $150,000 to $500,000 ($3.35 - January 1, 1991-January 1, 2005) and for employers with gross annual sales under $150,000 ($2.50 - January 1, 1991-January 1, 2005); Oklahoma sets a lower rate for employers of fewer than 10 full-time employees at any one location and for those with annual gross sales of less than $100,000 ($2.00, January 1, 1991-January 1, 2005); and the U.S. Virgin Islands sets a lower rate for businesses with gross annual receipts of less than $150,000 ($4.30, January 1, 1991-January 1, 2005).

(h) - In the District of Columbia, wage orders were replaced by a statutory minimum wage on October 1, 1993. A $5.45 minimum rate remained in effect for the laundry and dry cleaning industry as the result of the grandfather clause.

(i) - In Puerto Rico, separate minimum rates are in effect for almost 350 non-farm occupations by industry Mandatory Decrees. Rates are higher than those in the range listed in effect in a few specific occupations.
(i2) - The rate is 5.08/hour for those employees not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

(j) - In the U.S. Virgin Islands, implementation of an indexed rate, which was to have started January 1, 1991, was delayed.

Prepared By:

Division of Fair Labor Standards Act and Child Labor
Wage and Hour Division
U.S. Department of Labor

This document was last revised in January 2024.