Arkansas Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, Labor Standards DivisionArkansas's minimum wage is $11.00 per hour in 2026, set by the state and above the federal minimum of $7.25. This Arkansas minimum wage calculator turns that hourly rate into the numbers that actually matter to you: weekly, monthly and yearly pay. At $11.00 an hour, someone working a full 40-hour week earns about $440.00 before tax, or roughly $22,880.00 across a full year. Enter your own hours per week and weeks worked to see your gross pay, and edit the rate if you are paid above the minimum. The minimum wage is a floor, not a ceiling: employers can pay more, and some cities in Arkansas set their own higher local minimums. Tipped workers can be paid a lower cash wage as long as tips bring them up to the minimum; see the tipped calculator for that. The figure here is the state rate for 2026, sourced directly from the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, Labor Standards Division; the pay calculation is simply hours times the rate.
Arkansas's 2026 minimum wage is $11.00 per hour. Full time (40 hrs/week) that is about $440.00 a week and $22,880.00 a year before tax.
How Arkansas minimum wage pay is calculated
weekly pay = hourly rate x hours per week
annual pay = hourly rate x hours per week x weeks per year
overtime = hourly rate x 1.5 (hours over 40 in a week, FLSA)
These are gross figures before federal and Arkansas income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Your take-home pay is lower; see our Arkansas paycheck calculator for the after-tax amount.
Arkansas froze its rate in 2021, and it shows
Arkansas stands out for a wage floor that has not moved in years. The state minimum has been $11.00 an hour since January 1, 2021, the final step of a voter-approved increase (Issue 5 on the 2018 ballot). Unlike Arizona, Colorado, or many neighboring measures, Arkansas did not attach an annual inflation adjustment, so the rate has stayed flat while prices climbed. At $11.00, full-time pay is about $440.00 a week and roughly $22,880.00 a year before tax.
A quirk that catches small businesses is coverage. The $11.00 state minimum applies only to employers with four or more employees. A genuinely small operation with three or fewer workers falls under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act instead, where the floor is still $7.25 an hour. That gap of $3.75 between the state and federal rate is unusually consequential here because so many rural Arkansas employers sit near the threshold.
Tipped workers can be paid a cash wage of $2.63 an hour, with the employer claiming up to an $8.37 tip credit, provided tips carry the worker to the full $11.00. If a slow shift leaves them short, the employer owes the difference. Because the state rate is not indexed, the only way it rises is a new law or another ballot measure, so the figure on this page should hold steady until Arkansas acts. Verify it with the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing before relying on it for payroll.
Arkansas minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the minimum wage in Arkansas in 2026?
Arkansas's minimum wage is $11.00 per hour in 2026, set by the state and above the federal minimum of $7.25. At $11.00 an hour, a full-time worker (40 hours a week) earns about $440.00 a week and $22,880.00 a year before tax. This rate took effect on January 1, 2021.
How much is full-time minimum wage in Arkansas per year?
At Arkansas's $11.00 minimum wage, 40 hours a week for 52 weeks is 2,080 hours, which comes to about $22,880.00 a year ($1,906.67 a month) in gross pay before tax and deductions. Part-time hours scale down from there; use the calculator to enter your own hours.
Is Arkansas's minimum wage going up?
Arkansas does not automatically index its minimum wage to inflation, so it changes only when the law changes. The figure here is the 2026 rate verified with the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, Labor Standards Division.
What is the tipped minimum wage in Arkansas?
Arkansas lets employers pay tipped workers a lower cash wage of $2.63 an hour and count up to $8.37 of tips toward the minimum (a "tip credit"). If cash wage plus tips does not reach $11.00 an hour, the employer must make up the difference. See our Arkansas tipped minimum wage calculator for the full breakdown.
Is Arkansas's minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage?
Yes. Arkansas's $11.00 is $3.75 an hour above the federal minimum of $7.25, which works out to about $7,800.00 more a year for a full-time worker.
Official sources
- Arkansas 2026 minimum wage rate: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, Labor Standards Division, as at July 11, 2026.
- Federal minimum wage ($7.25) and overtime rules: US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 11 July 2026. See our methodology. General information, not legal or financial advice. State minimum has been $11.00 since 2021-01-01; not indexed. Applies to employers with 4 or more employees; smaller employers fall under the federal FLSA.