Texas Minimum Wage

Why $7.25, specifically

Texas doesn’t set its own minimum wage number. The Texas Minimum Wage Act (Texas Labor Code § 62.051) simply adopts whatever the federal minimum wage is, by reference. When Congress last raised the federal rate, in July 2009, Texas’s rate rose with it automatically, to $7.25. Congress hasn’t raised the federal minimum since, so neither has Texas. There’s no legislation currently moving to change that, and no scheduled increase.

Can a Texas city set its own, higher minimum wage?

No, and this is worth being direct about because it comes up constantly: Texas Labor Code § 62.0515 specifically prohibits any city, county, or other political subdivision from requiring employers to pay more than the state minimum wage. This isn’t theoretical. Austin passed a paid sick leave ordinance in 2018; Texas courts ruled it unconstitutional because it was preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Act. Austin also passed a symbolic resolution calling for a $15/hour minimum wage that same year, but it has no legal force over private employers. Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio have faced the same result when they’ve tried similar measures.

There’s one narrow exception worth knowing: a city can choose to pay its own municipal employees more than $7.25/hour, or require it on certain public contracts. That’s a decision about the city’s own payroll, not a wage floor for private businesses operating there. If you work for a private employer anywhere in Texas, your legal minimum is $7.25/hour, full stop, regardless of which city you’re in.

Tipped employees

If you work for tips, your employer can pay you as little as $2.13/hour in direct cash wages, as long as your tips bring your total hourly earnings up to at least $7.25. This only applies if you typically earn more than $20 a month in tips. If your tips fall short in any given week, your employer is legally required to make up the difference so you still hit $7.25/hour overall.

Workers under 20

Employees under 20 years old can legally be paid a youth minimum wage of $4.25/hour, but only for their first 90 consecutive calendar days on a job. After that 90-day window, or once they turn 20, whichever comes first, the standard $7.25/hour applies.

What $7.25/hour actually adds up to

At 40 hours a week, minimum wage comes out to $290/week, or about $15,080/year before taxes, for someone who works all 52 weeks. For context on how that compares to typical pay across the state, see average salary in Texas. And since overtime is calculated as 1.5 times the regular rate, the minimum legal overtime rate in Texas works out to $10.88/hour.

If you’re an employer

Paying below minimum wage exposes a business to real liability: an underpaid employee can sue for the unpaid wages plus an equal amount in damages, and has two years to do it. For the full compliance picture, including posting requirements and how minimum wage interacts with tipped and youth wage rules, see employer wage compliance requirements.

Common questions

Is minimum wage higher in any Texas city?

No. State law specifically blocks cities and counties from setting a minimum wage above the state rate. It’s $7.25/hour everywhere in Texas, whether that’s Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, or anywhere else.

Will Texas raise its minimum wage soon?

There’s no indication of it. No bill to raise the state rate has passed, and Texas’s rate is tied to the federal minimum, which also hasn’t moved since 2009.

Does Texas minimum wage affect how often I have to be paid?

No, pay frequency is a separate question. See Texas pay frequency and paycheck laws for how often employers are required to pay you.

Are any workers exempt from Texas minimum wage?

Yes, certain categories are exempt or covered under different rules, including some agricultural workers, certain small businesses not covered by the FLSA, and a few other specific categories. Most employees in Texas are covered.