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Minimum Wage Rates
Nov 29, 2021 8:00:00 AM
Many states and municipalities have minimum wage requirements. Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and an employer must pay the higher (federal, state, municipal) minimum wage to their non-exempt employee.
To help ensure that the minimum wage keeps pace with the rising cost of living, many states and municipalities adjust (or will adjust) their minimum wage rates annually. Others adjust their minimum wage rates periodically through legislation or ballot initiatives.
Click here for a minimum wage chart.
On the federal level, with few exceptions, to be exempt from overtime an employee must (a) be paid at least $684 per week, and (b) be paid on a salary basis, and also (c) perform exempt job duties. When there is a difference between federal and state employers must pay the higher rate.
Read further below to see a summary of upcoming state minimum wage requirements for exempt employees.
In California, exempt employees must meet certain salary and duties tests, and must be paid at least twice the state minimum hourly wage based on a 40-hour week. The state's minimum wage is scheduled to increase on January 1, 2022 and varies based on size of the employer. For the administrative and professional, and executive exemptions under state law, employers with 26 or more employees must pay a salary of at least $1,200.00 per week beginning January 1, 2022. Employers with fewer than 26 employees must pay a minimum salary of at least $1,120.00
Effective January 1, 2022, the minimum pay for overtime-exempt computer professionals, physicians, and surgeons paid an hourly rate in California increases per an annual inflation adjustment required by state statute.
- The minimum annual salary for computer professionals paid on a salary basis increases from $98,907.70 to $104,149.81.
- The minimum monthly salary for computer professionals paid on a salary basis increases from $8,242.32 to $8.679.16
- The minimum hourly rate of pay for computer professionals paid an hourly rate increases from $47.48 to $50.00
- The minimum hourly rate of pay for physicians and surgeons paid an hourly rate increases from $86.49. to $91.07.
On January 1, 2022, the minimum salary required to qualify for the executive/supervisor, administrative, and professional exemptions under state law increases to $865.38 per week.
In Colorado, employees in highly technical computer-related occupations must receive at least the lesser of the applicable salary noted above or hourly pay in 2022 that is at least $28.92.
The minimum salary required for administrative, professional, and executive employee’s exemptions under state law will increase to $735.59 per week, or $38,250 per year on January 1, 2022.
To be classified as exempt from New York's overtime requirements, executive and administrative employees must meet minimum salary requirements and satisfy certain duties tests. On December 31, 2021, minimum salary required for the executive and administrative exemptions will increase as follows:
- Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties: $1,125.00 per week
- Remainder of the State (Except New York City at $1,125.00): $990.00 per week
Effective January 1, 2022, the minimum salary required for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions under state law is $1,014.30 per week for all employers. For exempt computer professionals who are paid by the hour the minimum hourly rate is $50.72 per hour.
The minimum salary for administrative, professional, and executive exemptions in Alaska will remain $827.20 per week in 2022. Oregon exempt minimum wage will increase in July 2022 to $590.00 (Portland area), $540.00 (Nonrural counties), $500.00 (Rural counties).
In some states, executive, administrative, or professional employees are exempt from state overtime requirements, but not exempt from state minimum wage requirements, so they must earn at least the applicable minimum wage for each hour worked in a workweek, and on January 1, 2022 the minimum wage in some of these states will increase: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Virginia. Outside sales employees are not exempt from state minimum wage requirements in a few states, including Arizona where minimum wage will increase on January 1, 2022.
To qualify under the FLSA’s 7(i) overtime exemption, the regular rate of pay for an employee of a retail or service establishment must exceed one-and-a-half times the federal minimum wage, and more than half the employee’s compensation for a period (not less than one month) must be commissions on goods or services. In the following states with January 1, 2022 rate changes, the 7(i) type exemption requires – in part – an employee’s pay to equal or exceed one-and-a-half times the state minimum wage: California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York (possibly) and Washington.
Previous Updates
Minimum Wage Rates by State
Many states and municipalities have minimum wage requirements. Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and an employer must pay the higher (federal, state, municipal) minimum wage to their nonexempt employee.
To help ensure that the minimum wage keeps pace with the rising cost of living, many states and municipalities adjust (or will adjust) their minimum wage rates annually. Others adjust their minimum wage rates periodically through legislation or ballot initiatives.
This chart sets forth the 2021 state minimum wage changes for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. It notes applicable minimum cash wage and maximum tip credit. It also covers 2021 selected local minimum wage ordinances that apply to most or all employees who work within a particular jurisdiction, in contrast to ordinances that apply only to specific types of employers (such as those in Long Beach, California and SeaTac, Washington) and to prevailing wage or living wage ordinances that apply only to employees of local governments and the contractors they hire.
