US States With the Highest Effective Minimum Wages

51 US states ranked by effective minimum wage, from highest to lowest. First are District of Columbia (17), Washington (15.7) and California (15.5). The middle one of the 51 has 10.6.

What this measures

The lowest hourly pay most workers in the state were owed on 1 January of the year: the state's minimum wage or the federal one, whichever was higher. Where the state had no minimum wage, or one below the federal rate, this is the federal minimum. Where the state set more than one rate, the highest is used, which is usually the rate for larger employers. For the whole country it is the federal minimum, from the US Department of Labor. Source: US Department of Labor, state minimum wage history.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

Every state

Rank	State	US$ per hour
1	District of Columbia	17
2	Washington	15.7
3	California	15.5
4	Massachusetts	15
5	Connecticut	15
6	New York	14.2
7	Oregon	14.2
8	New Jersey	14.1
9	Arizona	13.8
10	Maine	13.8
11	Colorado	13.7
12	Maryland	13.3
13	Vermont	13.2
14	Illinois	13
15	Rhode Island	13
16	Florida	12
17	Hawaii	12
18	Missouri	12
19	New Mexico	12
20	Virginia	12
21	Delaware	11.8
22	Nevada	11.3
23	Arkansas	11
24	Alaska	10.8
25	South Dakota	10.8
26	Minnesota	10.6
27	Nebraska	10.5
28	Michigan	10.1
29	Ohio	10.1
30	Montana	9.95
31	West Virginia	8.75
32	Georgia	7.25
33	Idaho	7.25
34	Indiana	7.25
35	Iowa	7.25
36	Kansas	7.25
37	Kentucky	7.25
38	Louisiana	7.25
39	Mississippi	7.25
40	New Hampshire	7.25
41	North Carolina	7.25
42	North Dakota	7.25
43	Oklahoma	7.25
44	Pennsylvania	7.25
45	South Carolina	7.25
46	Tennessee	7.25
47	Texas	7.25
48	Utah	7.25
49	Wisconsin	7.25
50	Wyoming	7.25
51	Alabama	7.25

More on effective minimum wage

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.