Rhode Island Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official Rhode Island Department of Labor & TrainingRhode Island's minimum wage is $16.00 per hour in 2026, set by the state and above the federal minimum of $7.25. This Rhode Island minimum wage calculator turns that hourly rate into the numbers that actually matter to you: weekly, monthly and yearly pay. At $16.00 an hour, someone working a full 40-hour week earns about $640.00 before tax, or roughly $33,280.00 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 Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island Department of Labor & Training; the pay calculation is simply hours times the rate.
Rhode Island's 2026 minimum wage is $16.00 per hour. Full time (40 hrs/week) that is about $640.00 a week and $33,280.00 a year before tax.
How Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Your take-home pay is lower; see our Rhode Island paycheck calculator for the after-tax amount.
The frozen tipped wage behind the headline
Rhode Island's $16.00 minimum wage, effective January 1, 2026, lands it firmly in the high-wage New England cluster, close to Massachusetts and Connecticut and far above the $7.25 federal floor still used in much of the country. A 2024 law locked in the path: $16.00 this year, then $17.00 on January 1, 2027. Unlike Oregon or Connecticut, Rhode Island does not index automatically, so each step comes from the statute rather than a yearly inflation formula.
The number that surprises people sits underneath. Rhode Island's tipped cash wage has been stuck at $3.89 an hour since 2017, even as the regular minimum climbed from $9.60 to $16.00. That widens the tip credit an employer can claim to $12.11 an hour, one of the largest gaps in the Northeast. In practice a server is guaranteed $16.00 an hour only if tips plus the $3.89 cash wage reach that total; if a slow shift leaves them short, the employer must top up the difference, and many workers do not realize they can claim it.
For budgeting, treat $16.00 as your floor and remember it is scheduled to rise again shortly. A full-time worker at $16.00 earns about $640.00 a week and roughly $33,280.00 a year before tax; at the coming $17.00 rate that annual figure climbs by about $2,080.00. Confirm the current step with the Department of Labor and Training before it changes.
Rhode Island minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the minimum wage in Rhode Island in 2026?
Rhode Island's minimum wage is $16.00 per hour in 2026, set by the state and above the federal minimum of $7.25. At $16.00 an hour, a full-time worker (40 hours a week) earns about $640.00 a week and $33,280.00 a year before tax. This rate took effect on January 1, 2026.
How much is full-time minimum wage in Rhode Island per year?
At Rhode Island's $16.00 minimum wage, 40 hours a week for 52 weeks is 2,080 hours, which comes to about $33,280.00 a year ($2,773.33 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 Rhode Island's minimum wage going up?
to $17.00 on 2027-01-01. The figure here is the 2026 rate verified with the Rhode Island Department of Labor & Training.
What is the tipped minimum wage in Rhode Island?
Rhode Island lets employers pay tipped workers a lower cash wage of $3.89 an hour and count up to $12.11 of tips toward the minimum (a "tip credit"). If cash wage plus tips does not reach $16.00 an hour, the employer must make up the difference. See our Rhode Island tipped minimum wage calculator for the full breakdown.
Is Rhode Island's minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage?
Yes. Rhode Island's $16.00 is $8.75 an hour above the federal minimum of $7.25, which works out to about $18,200.00 more a year for a full-time worker.
Official sources
- Rhode Island 2026 minimum wage rate: Rhode Island Department of Labor & Training, 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. Minimum wage $16.00 effective January 1, 2026, rising to $17.00 on January 1, 2027. Tipped cash wage held at $3.89.