As of January 1, 2026, the New York minimum wage is $17.00 an hour in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, and $16.00 an hour in the rest of the state. In 2025 the rates were $16.50 and $15.50. New York publishes the schedule on the State Department of Labor’s website.
Tipped food-service workers in New York have a separate cash-wage floor, the least the employer can pay in cash before counting tips: $11.35 an hour in the city, Long Island and Westchester, and $10.70 elsewhere in the state. The employer may count tips toward the difference only if it gave the required written notice. It also loses the credit for any shift where the worker spent two hours or more, or more than 20 percent of the time, on work that earns no tips. When the notice was never given, the employer owes the full minimum wage for every hour.
New Jersey’s general minimum wage rose to $15.92 an hour, with lower rates for some seasonal, small, and agricultural employers and a higher rate for long-term-care direct-care staff. The tipped cash wage in New Jersey is $6.05.
- Earlier years had lower rates, so a claim reaching back several years is measured week by week against the rate in force at the time.
- Overtime is owed at one and a half times your regular rate, and your regular rate can never be lower than the minimum wage.
- A flat weekly amount is checked the same way: divide it by the hours actually worked.
These are government rate changes, not matters handled by Usher Law Group. Whether a particular paycheck fell below the minimum depends on the facts of that week.
All wage updates