🇺🇸What does United States require?

Everyday topic

The United States has no single national body that reviews and sets one minimum wage. The federal minimum wage, set under the Fair Labor Standards Act, is $7.25 an hour, unchanged since it took effect on July 24, 2009 — the longest freeze in the law's history since it was enacted in 1938; raising it requires an act of Congress, not an administrative decision. States (and some cities and counties) may set a minimum wage higher than the federal rate but not lower; where a state has not set its own rate, the federal $7.25 applies by default. States differ widely in method: some index their rate to inflation and adjust it automatically every year, others need a new law or a ballot measure each time. For 2026, Washington, D.C. has the highest rate at $18.40 an hour; Georgia and Wyoming have statutory rates of only $5.15, but because most employees there are still covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the effective floor remains $7.25. The rule is that an employer must pay whichever minimum wage — federal, state, or local — is highest for where the employee actually works.