Pennsylvania Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official Pennsylvania Department of Labor & IndustryPennsylvania's minimum wage is $7.25 per hour in 2026, matching the federal minimum. This Pennsylvania minimum wage calculator turns that hourly rate into the numbers that actually matter to you: weekly, monthly and yearly pay. At $7.25 an hour, someone working a full 40-hour week earns about $290.00 before tax, or roughly $15,080.00 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry; the pay calculation is simply hours times the rate.
Pennsylvania's 2026 minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Full time (40 hrs/week) that is about $290.00 a week and $15,080.00 a year before tax.
How Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Your take-home pay is lower; see our Pennsylvania paycheck calculator for the after-tax amount.
Why Pennsylvania is the Mid-Atlantic's lone $7.25 holdout
Pennsylvania is the wage-floor island of the Mid-Atlantic. Every state it borders pays more: New York at $16.00 to $17.00, New Jersey at $15.92, Delaware and Maryland at $15.00, Ohio at $11.00, and even West Virginia at $8.75. Pennsylvania alone sits at the federal $7.25, a rate frozen since July 24, 2009. A full-time worker who crosses the Delaware River into New Jersey earns roughly $18,000 more a year for the same 2,080 hours, which is why many border-county employers pay well above the legal minimum just to compete for staff.
The one place Pennsylvania has actually moved is tipped pay. Its cash wage of $2.83 an hour sits above the federal $2.13, and the August 2022 regulations raised the threshold for treating someone as a tipped employee from $30 to $135 in tips per month. Below that level, the worker must receive the full $7.25 in cash. The maximum tip credit is $4.42, and if cash plus tips falls short of $7.25 in any hour, the employer owes the difference.
The common mistake is assuming $7.25 is the whole story. Unlike New York or Maryland, Pennsylvania currently has no city or county minimum above the state rate, so the $7.25 floor applies statewide. Overtime still runs at 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours in a week, and federal contractor rules or a union contract can lift the effective floor. Because the state does not index to inflation, the figure changes only when the legislature acts, so confirm the current rate with the Department of Labor and Industry before relying on it.
Pennsylvania minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the minimum wage in Pennsylvania in 2026?
Pennsylvania's minimum wage is $7.25 per hour in 2026, matching the federal minimum. At $7.25 an hour, a full-time worker (40 hours a week) earns about $290.00 a week and $15,080.00 a year before tax. This rate took effect on July 24, 2009.
How much is full-time minimum wage in Pennsylvania per year?
At Pennsylvania's $7.25 minimum wage, 40 hours a week for 52 weeks is 2,080 hours, which comes to about $15,080.00 a year ($1,256.67 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 Pennsylvania's minimum wage going up?
Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
What is the tipped minimum wage in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania lets employers pay tipped workers a lower cash wage of $2.83 an hour and count up to $4.42 of tips toward the minimum (a "tip credit"). If cash wage plus tips does not reach $7.25 an hour, the employer must make up the difference. See our Pennsylvania tipped minimum wage calculator for the full breakdown.
Is Pennsylvania's minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage?
No. The rate that applies in Pennsylvania is the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Where a state and the federal rate differ, workers are entitled to the higher of the two.
Official sources
- Pennsylvania 2026 minimum wage rate: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, 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 $7.25. Pennsylvania's tipped cash wage is $2.83, not the federal $2.13.