West Virginia Minimum Wage 2026

Who it applies to

Employers and employees in West Virginia covered by the state minimum wage law. The Department of Labor's entry opens with a coverage line, which most entries in the table do not have: it applies the rate to employers with at least a stated number of employees at one place of business. This page does not print that headcount, because the only number verified against the source for this record is the rate itself. The table also does not display subminimum rates for minors, students or trainees, or higher local rates.

What changed this year, and why

The U.S. Department of Labor's table of state minimum wage laws, updated July 1, 2026, lists West Virginia's basic minimum rate as $8.75 per hour, under a coverage line limiting the entry to employers at or above a stated headcount at a single location. The entry records no dated step inside the year and no adjustment formula, and no earlier year of this record is published here, so this page states no year-over-year change.

Common questions

What is the minimum wage in West Virginia in 2026?

It is $8.75 per hour. That is the basic minimum rate the U.S. Department of Labor lists for West Virginia in its State Minimum Wage Laws table, in the version updated July 1, 2026, under a line applying the entry to employers at or above a stated headcount at a single location. The figure published here is taken from that entry and from nothing else.

Which employers have to pay the West Virginia minimum wage?

The entry opens with a coverage line rather than a bare rate: it applies to employers with at least a stated number of employees at one location. The headcount is in the Department of Labor's table itself; this page does not reprint it, because the rate is the only figure verified against the source for this record. Whether a particular business meets that condition is not something the table decides.

What applies to a West Virginia employer below that employee count?

The Department of Labor's entry does not say. It states the coverage condition and the rate that goes with it, and it adds no second rate for smaller employers and no line about the Fair Labor Standards Act, which the same table does add to some other entries. This page therefore publishes the rate under its stated condition and makes no claim about employers outside it.

Does the West Virginia entry state an overtime threshold?

Yes, a weekly one. The entry carries a premium pay after designated hours line naming a weekly threshold, with no daily threshold beside it, which is how the table writes several entries and unlike the entries that state both. The table marks the heading with its own footnote on the overtime premium rate. This page does not print the hour count, which is not a verified figure of this record.

Is the West Virginia minimum wage adjusted every year?

The table states an annual adjustment inside the entry itself for some states, naming a formula or an index. The West Virginia entry contains no such statement. This page therefore publishes the rate the table listed as of July 1, 2026 and makes no claim about whether or when the rate is recalculated, because the source document does not say.

Is there a separate tipped minimum wage for West Virginia?

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

Does the federal minimum wage apply to West Virginia employers?

The West Virginia entry does not address it. The same table adds a line to some entries stating that employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must pay the current federal minimum wage; West Virginia's entry carries no such line. This page publishes the state rate the table lists, with its coverage condition, and no federal amount.

Where does the $8.75 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 West Virginia entry gives the basic minimum rate per hour as $8.75. 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.