Minimum Wage Impact Calculator
As of April 1, 2026, the labor map is still deeply uneven: some states sit near or above $15 an hour, while the federal floor remains $7.25.
Jon Ragsdale· Chief Investment & Policy Intelligence Officer
Published April 1, 2026 · Updated April 1, 2026
Reviewed by David Duley for factual accuracy, source quality, and clarity.
This tool estimates what a wage floor implies for gross annual pay at your schedule. It does not decide whether a specific employer, tipped role, or local ordinance applies to you.
The point is simpler: make the gap visible. When one location pays more than twice the federal floor, that is not a tiny labor-law detail. It is a household cash-flow story.
Minimum-wage headlines can feel abstract. This calculator turns the wage-floor map into an annual paycheck estimate.
PRIA uses the federal $7.25 floor as the baseline. If your state or region pays more, the output shows what that difference implies over a full work year at your schedule.
How PRIA Approached This
This calculator was written by Jon Ragsdale and reviewed by David Duley. PRIA treats tools like this as household policy-risk explainers, not generic widgets. We separate current law from proposals when relevant, translate public rules into plain English, and present the output as an educational estimate rather than personalized advice.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the federal minimum wage in 2026?
- The federal minimum wage is still $7.25 per hour in 2026. Many states and localities require more, but the federal floor itself has not changed.
- Did 19 states raise minimum wages on January 1, 2026?
- Yes. Nineteen states raised their minimum wages on January 1, 2026, mostly through inflation formulas, prior legislation, or ballot measures.
- Why does this calculator use regions for New York and Oregon?
- Because those states do not have one clean statewide number for all workers. New York has separate rates for NYC, Long Island, and Westchester versus the rest of the state, and Oregon uses Portland metro, standard, and nonurban tiers.
- Does this include city minimum wages?
- Not comprehensively. Some cities and counties have higher local floors than the statewide rate. This tool is built to explain the broad wage-floor map first, not every local ordinance.
- Does this apply to tipped workers?
- Not necessarily. Many states allow different cash-wage rules for tipped workers as long as total pay reaches the required minimum. This calculator is designed around the headline floor, not the tipped-worker rules in every jurisdiction.
- Does this include NYC delivery-app pay rules?
- No. New York City app-delivery minimum pay is a separate sector-specific rule and sits outside the ordinary state minimum wage system.
The minimum wage story is no longer one national number. See what your state or region actually implies for annual pay.
Start Free Watch →How to Read the Result
Treat the annual gap as a planning estimate. It is gross pay implied by the wage floor alone, before taxes and before overtime, tips, or local ordinances push the real number higher or lower.
What This Tool Covers
PRIA includes the federal floor, all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and separate entries for New York and Oregon because those states use regional rates.
Related Analysis
- Labor and Gig Economy Changes 2026 - The broader editorial explainer behind the wage-floor patchwork.
- Cost of Living 2026 - See how wage floors collide with inflation and household costs.
- Real Wage Calculator - Check whether your own pay kept up with inflation.