2019 Wyoming Minimum Wage
The 2019 Wyoming Minimum Wage is $5.15.
Effective 2019-01-01Source: Your Rights as a Worker (Wyoming Department of Workforce Services)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2018
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2018.
| Item | 2018 | 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | $5.15 | $5.15 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employees of Wyoming employers, though the Department of Workforce Services notes that federal minimum wage rates apply to many positions in the state.
What changed this year, and why
Wyoming's own statutory minimum wage was $5.15 per hour in 2019, unchanged from 2018.
Common questions
- What was Wyoming's minimum wage in 2019?
- Wyoming's own minimum wage was $5.15 per hour in 2019. The Department of Workforce Services states it alongside a warning that federal minimum wage rates apply to many positions.
- Does every Wyoming worker get $5.15 per hour?
- No. $5.15 is the rate Wyoming law sets, and most workers in the state are covered by the federal minimum wage instead, which is higher. Wyoming's own figure matters only where federal coverage does not reach.
Overtime is paid at one and one-half times the regular rate
Wyoming state law is unusual here, and the Department of Workforce Services is blunt about it: does Wyoming require overtime pay? Not generally under state law, except for public works projects. That is a statement about Wyoming's own statutes, not about what a Wyoming worker is actually owed, because the federal Fair Labor Standards Act separately requires time and one-half the regular rate for hours worked beyond the standard workweek and it covers most employers in the state. So a worker in Wyoming who works long hours is usually claiming overtime under federal law rather than state law, and the state adds its own requirement on public works projects on top. The practical consequence is where a Wyoming worker takes the complaint: a public works overtime dispute is state ground, while an ordinary private-sector overtime claim is federal ground.
Q: Does Wyoming require overtime pay? A: Not generally under state law, except for public works projects.
Labor Standards Frequently Asked Questions (Wyoming Department of Workforce Services)
Who to ask about this rate, and where to take a wage complaint
The office to ask about Wyoming's minimum wage, and the one to take an unpaid wage complaint to, is the Labor Standards Division of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services. Its own instructions are short: how do I file a wage claim? Submit an online wage claim through the Labor Standards office. You'll receive a PIN to save and return to your application if needed. The PIN matters because a Wyoming wage claim does not have to be completed in one sitting, and a worker gathering pay stubs can come back to a part-finished application. The division handles claims for work performed in Wyoming, which is the test that decides whether it is the right office rather than the worker's home address. A Wyoming worker who believes they were paid less than the $5.15 state rate, or less than the federal rate that usually applies instead, starts here.
Q: How do I file a wage claim? A: Submit an online wage claim through the Labor Standards office. You’ll receive a PIN to save and return to your application if needed.
Labor Standards Frequently Asked Questions (Wyoming Department of Workforce Services)
What an employer may deduct from your pay
A Wyoming employer may take money out of a paycheck, but not for whatever reason it likes. The Department of Workforce Services answers the question directly: can my employer deduct money from my paycheck? Yes, but only under certain rules (for example, loans or damages). Wyoming ties those rules to its wage payment statute rather than leaving them to the employer's discretion, so a deduction has to fit a category the law recognises. What that means in practice for a Wyoming worker is that a deduction should be traceable to something agreed or owed, not to a shortfall in the till or a broken item the employer has simply decided to charge for. A worker in Wyoming who cannot see why an amount was taken can ask the Labor Standards Division to look at it, and a deduction that leaves pay below the wage the worker is legally owed is a wage claim rather than a bookkeeping question.
Q: Can my employer deduct money from my paycheck? A: Yes, but only under certain rules (for example, loans or damages). Statute: W.S. 27-4-104(a)
Labor Standards Frequently Asked Questions (Wyoming Department of Workforce Services)
Why the federal rate applies when the state rate is lower
Wyoming is one of the few states whose own statutory minimum wage sits below the federal one, and its labour department says so in the same breath as the rate: Wyoming law sets the minimum wage at $5.15 per hour, but most workers must be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The reason is that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets a floor rather than a ceiling, and where an employee is covered by it the higher of the two rates is the one that has to be paid. So the $5.15 in Wyoming statute is not the number most people in the state are paid; it is what state law alone would require. A Wyoming worker whose employer is covered by the federal act is owed $7.25 per hour, and the state figure never reduces that.
Q: What is the minimum wage in Wyoming? A: Wyoming law sets the minimum wage at $5.15 per hour, but most workers must be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
Labor Standards Frequently Asked Questions (Wyoming Department of Workforce Services)
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.
Your Rights as a Worker (Wyoming Department of Workforce Services)
- Hourly
Minimum Wage: Wyoming’s minimum wage is $5.15 per hour (though federal minimum wage rates apply to many positions).
Other years
Every Wyoming Minimum Wage year · Minimum Wage in every state