2020 Federal Minimum Wage
The 2020 Federal Minimum Wage is $7.25.
Effective 2020-01-01Source: Minimum Wage (DOL)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2019
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2019.
| Item | 2019 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | $7.25 | $7.25 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers and workers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
What changed this year, and why
The federal minimum wage remained $7.25 per hour in 2020, the same rate as in 2019.
Common questions
- Did the federal minimum wage change in 2020?
- No. The federal minimum wage remained at the same hourly rate it had been at since its most recent increase.
Minors, students and training wages: who may be paid less than the rate on this page
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal hourly rate is $7.25. The Act also contains provisions that allow certain categories of workers to be paid below that floor — for example, youth workers in their first weeks on a job, full-time students in retail or agriculture, and workers whose productivity is limited by age or disability. Those subminimum rates require an employer certificate from the Department of Labor and are subject to conditions and time limits. The landing page on the Department of Labor site lists "Youth Minimum Wage" as a linked fact sheet, which is where the detailed conditions live, but the page itself does not spell out the eligibility rules or the dollar amounts for any of those categories. The $7.25 figure is the standard against which those lower rates are measured.
Youth Minimum Wage Recordkeeping under the FLSA
Minimum Wage (DOL)
Who to ask about this rate, and where to take a wage complaint
If an employee is owed wages that exceed the federal minimum wage, they may wonder where to turn for help. The FLSA does not provide wage payment collection procedures for an employee’s usual or promised wages or commissions in excess of those required by the FLSA. However, some states do have laws under which such claims (sometimes including fringe benefits) may be filed. This means that if a worker is owed more than the $7.25 federal hourly minimum wage, the federal government cannot help them collect the difference through standard FLSA procedures. Instead, the employee must look to their state's labor laws and file a claim with the appropriate state agency. States that have these collection procedures allow workers to recover unpaid wages, and sometimes fringe benefits, that their employers owe them beyond the basic federal floor.
The FLSA does not provide wage payment collection procedures for an employee’s usual or promised wages or commissions in excess of those required by the FLSA. However, some states do have laws under which such claims (sometimes including fringe benefits) may be filed.
Minimum Wage (DOL)
State minimum wage laws that give more than the federal rate
The $7.25 federal minimum is a floor and not a ceiling, and for most workers in the United States it is not the operative number. Many states set their own minimum wage, some of them well above the federal one, and where a state gives greater protection the employer must comply with both laws - which in practice means paying the higher rate. Nothing in the federal act preempts the more generous state rule; it sets the minimum below which no covered employer may go. Two consequences worth carrying. Your own rate is the highest of the federal, state and local figures that reach your job, so the number to look up is your state's and your city's rather than this one. And a job that pays exactly $7.25 in a state with a higher minimum is not a lawful federal-rate job; it is an underpaid one.
Many states also have minimum wage laws. Some state laws provide greater employee protections; employers must comply with both.
Minimum Wage (DOL)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Minimum Wage (DOL)
- Hourly
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour
Other years
Every Federal Minimum Wage year · Minimum Wage in every state