Texas’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, the same as the federal minimum wage. Texas doesn’t set its own dollar amount. Instead, state law simply adopts the federal rate by reference, meaning the state minimum wage rises only if Congress raises the federal floor. Since the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009, that’s where Texas has stayed for over 15 years.
Why Texas Follows the Federal Rate
Most states either set their own minimum wage above the federal level or match it explicitly. Texas takes a slightly different approach: state law excludes from its own coverage any employment already subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In practice, the vast majority of workers in Texas fall under the FLSA, so the federal $7.25 per hour is the binding rate for nearly all hourly employees in the state.
Cities Can’t Set a Higher Local Wage
Some states allow cities or counties to establish their own higher minimum wages. Texas does not. The Texas Regulatory Consistency Act prohibits cities and counties from enacting local ordinances that regulate employment leave, hiring practices, scheduling, benefits, or other terms of employment beyond what state or federal law requires. That includes wages. So no matter where you work in Texas, the floor is $7.25 per hour unless your employer voluntarily pays more.
Rules for Tipped Employees
If you work a job where you regularly earn tips, such as waiting tables or bartending, your employer can pay you a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour. The employer claims a “tip credit” of up to $5.12 per hour, which is the gap between the $2.13 cash wage and the $7.25 minimum. The idea is that your tips fill in the rest.
There’s a catch that protects you: if your tips plus your $2.13 cash wage don’t add up to at least $7.25 per hour in any given workweek, your employer is legally required to make up the difference. You should always earn at least the full minimum wage when tips and cash wages are combined.
Before claiming the tip credit, your employer must tell you, either verbally or in writing, exactly how much they’re paying in direct wages, how much they’re claiming as a tip credit, and that you keep all your tips except in a valid tip pooling arrangement. If your employer never provides this notice, they cannot legally use the tip credit and owe you the full $7.25 per hour in direct wages.
Who Is Exempt From the Minimum Wage
Not every worker in Texas is guaranteed $7.25 per hour. The FLSA carves out exemptions for certain categories. Full-time students working in retail, service, agriculture, or at a college or university may be paid a reduced rate. Student learners in vocational programs and workers with disabilities may also be paid below the standard minimum under special certificates issued by the U.S. Department of Labor. Salaried employees who meet the FLSA’s duties tests for executive, administrative, or professional roles are exempt from minimum wage and overtime rules entirely.
Efforts to Raise the Rate
Bills to raise the Texas minimum wage have been introduced in multiple legislative sessions but have not passed. The most recent effort, House Bill 2836 filed in the 89th Texas Legislature in March 2025, proposed raising the state minimum to $13 per hour. The bill was referred to a subcommittee on workforce but has not advanced further. Texas’s legislature meets every two years, so if a wage bill doesn’t pass during a session, it dies and would need to be reintroduced in the next one.
What $7.25 Means in Take-Home Pay
At $7.25 per hour, a full-time worker putting in 40 hours a week earns $290 before taxes. Over a full year with no time off, that comes to roughly $15,080. Texas has no state income tax, which means workers keep more of each paycheck than they would in states that tax wages. Still, federal income tax and payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare) reduce the actual take-home amount. Many large employers in Texas voluntarily pay well above $7.25, but the legal floor remains one of the lowest in the country, shared with about 20 other states that either match or default to the federal rate.