Minimum wage and tipped wage on 1 January 2027: the state-by-state table for restaurants

Michigan's minimum wage rises $1.27 to $15.00 on 1 January 2027, about $19,732 a year for a full-service restaurant with 150 kitchen and 200 server hours a week. Here is what changes in every state this time.

On 1 January 2027, 14 states raise their minimum wage on figures published by their own labor agencies or set in state law: California, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Maine, Arizona, Rhode Island, Virginia, South Dakota and Montana. Nebraska rises by a formula in law but had not published its figure. Vermont had not announced its 2027 rate. New York does not change. The federal minimum stays $7.25. Last checked: 5 November 2026.

Which states raise the minimum wage on 1 January 2027?

Every figure below was read on 5 November 2026 on a government page: the state or city agency, or the state's statute. The "tipped cash wage" is the least you can pay per hour before tips where the state allows a tip credit. "None" means the state requires the full minimum before tips.

Three details that catch owners out:

• New Jersey seasonal employers and employers with fewer than six staff pay $16.25, not $16.48.
• Ohio businesses with gross receipts of $419,000 or less pay the federal $7.25, and so do 14 and 15 year olds.
• Colorado also has local rates in Edgewater, the City of Boulder and unincorporated Boulder County; the Colorado and Denver guide covers them.
• Michigan's tipped share rises 2 points a year, from 40% in 2026 to 50% in 2031, so the cash wage climbs every January even when tips do not.

Which states do not change on 1 January 2027?

New York stays where it is. The state labor department says the minimum wage "will stay the same" on 1 January 2027: $17.00 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester, and $16.00 in the rest of the state. Tipped food service workers keep a cash wage of $11.35 and $10.70 (NY DOL). The reason is an inflation "off-ramp" in state law. The same page notes that Governor Hochul is proposing to change the off-ramp so the increase happens, so check it again in December.

Other states with no 1 January change:

• Hawaii stays at $16.00 until it rises to $18.00 on 1 January 2028 (Hawaii DLIR).
• Illinois stays at $15.00, with a $9.00 tipped wage. The state's page shows no 2027 increase.
• Oregon and Alaska change on 1 July (Oregon BOLI, Alaska Wage and Hour).
• Florida changes on 30 September. It reached $15.00 on 30 September 2026, and with its $3.02 tip credit the tipped cash wage is $11.98 (DOL tipped table, footnote 4).
• The federal minimum stays $7.25, with a $2.13 cash wage for tipped staff.

What is still unconfirmed?

Three states had not published a 2027 figure on their own pages when we checked on 5 November:

• Vermont announces each autumn and had not posted a 2027 rate. Its tipped wage is half the full minimum ($7.21 on $14.42 in 2026), so it will move too.
• Nebraska's LB 258 raises the $15.00 rate by 1.75% on 1 January 2027. Trade press reports $15.26, but the bill text also mentions rounding to five cents, and the Department of Labor's labor standards page still showed only the 2026 rate. Wait for the department's figure. The $2.13 tipped cash wage is fixed in the same statute and does not change.
• Missouri's labor department page still shows $15.00 and no 2027 rate. Law firm summaries of HB 567 (2025) say it repealed the automatic inflation rises that were due to start in 2027, so no automatic rise is due.

City rates are separate. Seattle and Denver appear above, and Boulder in the Colorado guide, because their own pages list 2027 figures. If your city has its own minimum wage, its page is the only source to trust.

How much of the minimum do tips have to cover in your state?

This is the number that decides how exposed you are to a slow week. Where a tip credit is allowed, every dollar between the cash wage and the full minimum has to come from tips. If tips fall short in a workweek, you top up. How the credit works, and the notice you owe staff first, is in our tip credit guide. Here is the size of the gap from 1 January.

Our analysis of the DOL's Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees by State table (revised 1 July 2026) and the 2027 state figures above, 5 November 2026.

What the numbers show:

• Sixteen states still use the federal $2.13 cash wage, by the DOL's July 2026 table: Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
• Virginia leans on tips hardest of any state rising in January: 84.5% of its minimum. The minimum goes up 98 cents and the cash wage stays at $2.13, so the whole rise lands on the tip credit. A Virginia server on a quiet Tuesday needs $11.62 an hour in tips, or you top up the difference.
• Rhode Island servers need the most tips per hour of any state, $13.11, because the minimum rises a full dollar while the $3.89 cash wage has been fixed in statute since 2017.
• In Colorado and Arizona the credit is capped at about $3, so a rise costs you almost dollar for dollar, tipped staff included.

What does a 1 January rise cost a restaurant?

Multiply the hours paid at or near the minimum by the increase, then add 7.65% for the employer's Social Security and Medicare.

Worked example: a Michigan full-service restaurant.

• Kitchen: 150 hours a week at the minimum. $15.00 minus $13.73 is $1.27, so $190.50 a week.
• Floor: 200 server hours a week at the tipped cash wage. $6.30 minus $5.49 is $0.81, so $162.00 a week.
• Total: $352.50, plus 7.65% employer FICA, is $379.47 a week, or about $19,732 a year.
• On $25,000 of weekly sales, that is 1.5% of sales.

Do the same for staff paid just above the minimum. A line cook on $14.25 was 52 cents ahead of a dishwasher on $13.73. On 1 January both must be paid at least $15.00, and the gap disappears unless you choose to keep it. Decide that before January, not when they ask.

In the Michigan example the rise is 1.5% of sales, which is the size of price rise that covers it. Your figure will differ. Divide the weekly cost by weekly sales, and price only the items that carry it. Our guide to raising menu prices in 2027 and the menu price calculator work through the item side.

What do you have to update before 1 January?

The rate is the easy part. These are the jobs that get missed:

1. Pay rates. Change every hourly rate at or near the old minimum, and the tipped cash wage, in payroll, for hours worked from 1 January.
2. The workplace poster. States that raise the rate usually publish a new poster. Ohio says employers must display its official 2027 poster.
3. Written notice of the change. Minnesota requires written notice of any pay change before it takes effect. Check whether your state requires one.
4. Tip credit notice. If the cash wage or credit changes, tell tipped staff the new figures before you take the credit.
5. Exempt salaries. Several states tie the overtime-exempt salary to the minimum wage. California's rises to $72,384 a year and Washington's to $82,976.40 or $92,196 by size; Maine's becomes $905.79 a week. Our restaurant manager salary guide covers the duties test.
6. Paid sick leave in Connecticut. From 1 January 2027 it covers employers with one or more employees, counted from the payroll week containing 1 January. Staff accrue 1 hour for every 30 worked, up to 40 hours a year (CT DOL FAQs, updated 23 September 2026).
7. Menu prices, if the arithmetic above says you need them.

State-specific to-do lists are in our California, Seattle and Washington and Colorado and Denver guides. Check with an adviser for your situation.

A 1 January 2027 checklist you can copy

1 JANUARY 2027 PAY CHECKLIST (restaurant)

State: ____________   City (if it has its own rate): ____________

[ ] New minimum wage for my state/city: $______  (source page checked: ____)
[ ] New tipped cash wage, if my state allows a credit: $______
[ ] Every hourly rate below the new minimum raised (list names):
    ______________________________________________
[ ] Staff just above the minimum reviewed (keep the gap? yes / no)
[ ] Tip credit notice re-issued to tipped staff with new figures
[ ] Written notice of pay change given (where required)
[ ] New state/city poster on the wall, by the time clock
[ ] Exempt managers' salaries checked against the new state level
[ ] Payroll provider told the effective pay period
[ ] Weekly cost of the rise: $______ (hours x increase x 1.0765)
[ ] As % of weekly sales: ______%
[ ] Menu prices reviewed for the items that carry the cost
[ ] Connecticut only: sick leave accrual set up for all staff

Can TablePort handle this for you?

TablePort's Staff Management add-on helps you hold the labor line while the rates go up.

1. Build the first January week in the planner, which shows labor as a share of forecast sales against your target for each day, before anything is published.
2. Give the autopilot a labor cap or maximum hours in plain words, then fix any day that runs over.
3. Turn on the US federal, California or New York preset to get overtime warnings as you build the week.
4. Staff clock in on the till with a PIN; approve the timesheets and export the hours as a CSV or for Xero. The daily report shows hours and tips per staff member for a tip credit top-up check.

One honest limit: TablePort does not set pay, follow minimum wage changes or run payroll, so the checklist above stays your job. See the staff rota page.