2026 Connecticut Minimum Wage

Who it applies to

Employers and employees in Connecticut covered by the state minimum wage law. The entry attaches no employer-size condition to the rate. It states premium pay after designated hours on a weekly basis, and adds one industry-specific rule: in restaurants and hotel restaurants, premium pay at time and one half the minimum rate is required for the seventh consecutive day of work. The table does not display subminimum rates for minors, students or trainees, or any higher rate set by a local government.

What changed this year, and why

The U.S. Department of Labor's table of state minimum wage laws, updated July 1, 2026, lists Connecticut's basic minimum rate as $16.94 per hour. The Connecticut entry records no dated step inside the year, and no earlier year of this record is published on this site, so this page states no year-over-year change.

Common questions

What is the minimum wage in Connecticut in 2026?

$16.94 per hour. That is the basic minimum rate the U.S. Department of Labor lists for Connecticut in its State Minimum Wage Laws table, in the version updated July 1, 2026. The entry gives a single rate per hour with no employer-size condition attached, and the figure published here is taken from that entry and from nothing else.

Which employers have to pay the Connecticut minimum wage?

The entry states a basic minimum rate and attaches no employer-size condition to it. For several other states the same table opens the entry with a coverage line limiting the rate to employers above a stated headcount; Connecticut's entry carries no such line. The table also does not itself list the exemptions written into the state law.

Does Connecticut have daily overtime?

The Department of Labor's table records premium pay after designated hours for Connecticut on a weekly basis only. Several entries in the same table state a daily threshold as well; the Connecticut entry has no daily line, so this page states none. The table's footnote adds that the overtime premium rate is one and one-half times the employee's regular rate unless otherwise specified.

What is the Connecticut seventh day rule for restaurants?

The entry states that in restaurants and hotel restaurants, premium pay is required at time and one half the minimum rate for the seventh consecutive day of work. It is the only industry-specific rule in the Connecticut entry, it is written against consecutive days rather than a weekly hour count, and the entry names no other trade it applies to.

Is there a separate tipped minimum wage for Connecticut?

The Department of Labor's state table lists one basic minimum rate per hour for Connecticut and no separate cash wage for tipped employees, so this page does not publish one. The same table states that differential provisions are not displayed in it, naming subminimum rates for minors and students and training wages for new hires as examples of what it leaves out.

How is the Connecticut minimum wage adjusted each year?

The same table states an annual adjustment formula inside the entry for several states. The Connecticut entry contains no such statement, and it carries no dated step inside the year. This page therefore publishes the rate the table listed as of July 1, 2026 and makes no claim about how or when the rate is recalculated, because the source document does not say.

Do city minimum wages in Connecticut override the state rate?

The Department of Labor's table does not answer that. It notes only that some local governments set minimum wage rates higher than their respective state minimum wage, and that such differential provisions are not displayed in the table. The rate on this page is the state-level basic rate the Connecticut entry gives, so a local ordinance sits outside what this source records.

Where does the $16.94 figure on this page come from?

From the Wage and Hour Division's State Minimum Wage Laws table at dol.gov, in the snapshot captured for this record, where the Connecticut entry gives the basic minimum rate per hour as $16.94. The division notes on the same page that it tries to keep the information accurate and that individuals should consult the relevant state labor office for official information.

Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Minimum wage pay calculator takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.