2025 Federal Minimum Wage
The 2025 Federal Minimum Wage is $7.25.
Effective 2025-01-01Source: Minimum Wage (DOL)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2024
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2024.
| Item | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | $7.25 | $7.25 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers and workers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
What changed this year, and why
The federal minimum wage for 2025 remains $7.25 per hour, unchanged from 2024.
Common questions
- What is the federal minimum wage for 2025?
- The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
- Did the federal minimum wage change from 2024 to 2025?
- No. The federal minimum wage was $7.25 per hour in 2024 and remains $7.25 per hour in 2025.
- Do state minimum wage laws also apply?
- Many states have their own minimum wage laws. When both federal and state laws apply, employers must comply with the requirement that provides greater employee protection.
Who to ask about this rate, and where to take a wage complaint
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not itself include a process for employees to recover wages that exceed what the FLSA requires, such as promised pay or commissions that go beyond the federal minimum. Instead, claims of that kind are handled at the state level. Some states have enacted laws that allow workers to file complaints when an employer fails to pay the wages or fringe benefits that were owed under state rules or an employment agreement. Employees who believe they are owed more than the $7.25 federal hourly rate should look to their state labor office or state wage-claim process. The state agency can explain whether the claim falls under state law and what steps are needed to pursue it.
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