Maryland Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official Maryland Department of LaborMaryland's minimum wage is $15.00 per hour in 2026, set by the state and above the federal minimum of $7.25. This Maryland minimum wage calculator turns that hourly rate into the numbers that actually matter to you: weekly, monthly and yearly pay. At $15.00 an hour, someone working a full 40-hour week earns about $600.00 before tax, or roughly $31,200.00 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 Maryland 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 Maryland Department of Labor; the pay calculation is simply hours times the rate.
Maryland's 2026 minimum wage is $15.00 per hour. Full time (40 hrs/week) that is about $600.00 a week and $31,200.00 a year before tax.
How Maryland 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 Maryland income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Your take-home pay is lower; see our Maryland paycheck calculator for the after-tax amount.
Maryland's county rates can beat the state floor
Maryland hit $15.00 an hour on January 1, 2024, and the path there is the interesting part. The Fair Wage Act of 2023 pulled the target forward and, importantly, erased the old split that let smaller employers pay less for longer. Since that date the $15.00 rate has applied to every employer in the state regardless of headcount, so the common belief that a small shop can still pay a reduced Maryland minimum is out of date.
Where the state number stops telling the whole story is at the county line. Montgomery County and Howard County run their own higher local minimums, and Montgomery County's largest-employer rate is among the highest in the country, well above the statewide $15.00. A worker in Silver Spring and a worker in Salisbury are covered by the same state law but not the same floor, so always check the county before relying on the figure here.
Tipped staff add another layer. Maryland lets employers pay a cash wage of $3.63 an hour to workers who make more than $30 a month in tips, claiming the rest as a tip credit up to $15.00. If tips fall short in a given week, the employer must close the gap. The $3.63 cash figure is unusually low next to the state's high headline rate, which is exactly why the top-up rule matters.
Maryland minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the minimum wage in Maryland in 2026?
Maryland's minimum wage is $15.00 per hour in 2026, set by the state and above the federal minimum of $7.25. At $15.00 an hour, a full-time worker (40 hours a week) earns about $600.00 a week and $31,200.00 a year before tax. This rate took effect on January 1, 2024.
How much is full-time minimum wage in Maryland per year?
At Maryland's $15.00 minimum wage, 40 hours a week for 52 weeks is 2,080 hours, which comes to about $31,200.00 a year ($2,600.00 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 Maryland's minimum wage going up?
Maryland 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 Maryland Department of Labor.
What is the tipped minimum wage in Maryland?
Maryland lets employers pay tipped workers a lower cash wage of $3.63 an hour and count up to $11.37 of tips toward the minimum (a "tip credit"). If cash wage plus tips does not reach $15.00 an hour, the employer must make up the difference. See our Maryland tipped minimum wage calculator for the full breakdown.
Is Maryland's minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage?
Yes. Maryland's $15.00 is $7.75 an hour above the federal minimum of $7.25, which works out to about $16,120.00 more a year for a full-time worker.
Official sources
- Maryland 2026 minimum wage rate: Maryland Department of Labor, 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 rate has been $15.00 since 2024-01-01 for all employers regardless of size; no scheduled 2026 change. Local minimums: Montgomery County and Howard County set higher local minimums.