Wyoming Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 for Most Jobs, $5.15 Under State Law, and a $2.13 Tipped Cash Wage

Wyoming’s own minimum wage law still says $5.15 an hour [1]. In practice, most Wyoming workers are owed $7.25, because employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act must pay the federal minimum [2]. Neither rate is scheduled to change in 2027 [1][2].

Which rate applies to you

The Department of Labor’s state table lists Wyoming’s basic rate as $5.15 and adds that employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must pay the current federal minimum of $7.25 [2]. The federal law reaches most jobs: it covers businesses with at least two employees and $500,000 a year in sales, plus hospitals, care facilities, schools and government agencies of any size, and individual workers whose jobs regularly involve interstate commerce [5].

The $5.15 state rate only matters for the small group of jobs the federal law doesn’t reach. If you’re not sure which group you’re in, assume $7.25 and ask the Department of Labor.

Tipped workers

Under Wyoming law, an employer can pay a tipped employee as little as $2.13 an hour in cash, but only if that wage plus the worker’s tips for the pay period reach the minimum wage; if they don’t, the employer pays the difference [1]. A tipped employee is one who customarily and regularly gets more than $30 a month in tips [1]. The federal rule matches it: a $2.13 cash wage and a tip credit of up to $5.12, for a combined $7.25 [3].

Wyoming law also says tips belong to the employees who receive them, not to the employer [6]. Tipped employees have to give their employer a monthly copy of the daily tip record the IRS requires, and that record counts as proof of the tips received [1].

Young workers

Both laws allow a youth wage of at least $4.25 an hour for workers under 20, during their first 90 consecutive days with an employer [1][4]. The 90 days are calendar days, not workdays, and the youth rate ends the day the worker turns 20 [4]. Employers can’t cut other workers’ hours, wages or benefits, or let them go, to hire at the youth rate [1][4].

Who Wyoming’s law leaves out

Wyoming’s minimum wage statute doesn’t count these workers as employees [7]:

• Agricultural workers.
• Domestic workers in a private home.
• Bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees.
• Federal, state and local government employees.
• Volunteers for educational, charitable, religious or nonprofit groups.
• Outside salespeople paid only by commission.
• On-call ambulance and similar drivers.

Federal law has its own list of exemptions, so a job left out of the state law can still be covered at $7.25 [5].

Paydays and final paychecks

When you quit or are fired, Wyoming law says you must be paid what you’re owed no later than the employer’s next regular payday [8]. If you sue for those wages and win, the court must add 18% interest a year from the date they were due, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs [8]. Each paycheck also has to come with an itemized statement of deductions [9].

If you’re not paid what you’re owed

The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services takes written claims for unpaid wages, investigates them and decides whether they’re valid [10][11]. Its claims are limited to two months’ wages per employee per claim, outside bankruptcy [10]. Either side can ask for a hearing within 15 calendar days of getting the department’s decision [11]. If the claim is upheld and the employer still doesn’t pay, the department brings in the county attorney to collect, and the employer can be fined up to $200 a day [11].

You can also sue on your own for unpaid minimum wage, with attorney fees and costs [12], or contact the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division about federal minimum wage and overtime.

What $7.25 adds up to

At $7.25 an hour, 40 hours a week for 52 weeks comes to about $15,080 a year before taxes [2]. A tipped worker paid the $2.13 cash wage still has to end up at $7.25 an hour once tips are counted [1][3].