There is no $15 minimum wage in Texas. The state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, because Section 62.051 of the Texas Labor Code adopts the federal rate set under the Fair Labor Standards Act rather than establishing an independent state figure.1State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 62.051 – Minimum Wage A $15 floor briefly existed for federal contractors under an executive order, but that order was revoked in March 2025, closing the one narrow path to mandated $15 pay in the state.
What Texas Workers Are Actually Entitled To
The federal minimum wage has sat at $7.25 per hour since July 2009, and Texas has stayed there with it.2U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wage If Congress raised the federal rate, Texas workers would get the increase automatically. Until that happens, or until the Texas legislature sets its own higher figure, $7.25 is the floor.
For a full-time worker at 40 hours a week, $7.25 comes to roughly $15,080 per year before taxes. At $15 an hour, that same schedule pays about $31,200. The gap is why the $15 debate keeps returning to the Capitol, but the law has not moved.
Why No Texas City Can Require $15
Local governments cannot fill the gap. Section 62.0515 of the Texas Labor Code prevents any city, county, or other political subdivision from setting a minimum wage above the state rate.3State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 62.0515 – Application of Minimum Wage to Certain Governmental Entities A $15 ordinance passed in Austin, Dallas, or Houston would be unenforceable. The only routes to a higher mandated wage in Texas run through Austin’s legislature or Congress.
$15 Bills That Have Not Passed
Texas lawmakers have filed $15 minimum wage bills repeatedly, and each has died. The most recent attempt was House Bill 812 during the 2025 legislative session, which would have amended Section 62.051 to require at least $15 per hour. It never made it out of committee and was dead by June 2025.
At the federal level, the Raise the Wage Act keeps getting reintroduced. The 2025 version, H.R. 2743, would gradually increase the federal minimum wage, which would automatically raise pay in Texas.4Congress.gov. H.R.2743 – Raise the Wage Act of 2025 As of 2026, none of these federal proposals have passed.
Federal Contractors: The $15 That Was Revoked
For a few years, some Texas workers on federal contracts did earn a mandated $15 per hour. Executive Order 14026, signed in April 2021, required at least $15 for employees working on or in connection with federal government contracts, covering roles such as security guards, maintenance staff, and food service workers on federal property.5GovInfo. Executive Order 14026 – Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors The rate rose with annual cost-of-living adjustments and had climbed above $15 by the time it was ended.
On March 14, 2025, Executive Order 14236 revoked EO 14026 entirely. The Department of Labor stopped enforcing the $15 contractor minimum and began rescinding its implementing regulations.6U.S. Department of Labor. Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors The broad $15 requirement for new federal contracts no longer exists.
An older executive order, EO 13658, still applies to a narrower set of contracts entered into between January 1, 2015, and January 29, 2022, that have not been renewed or extended since. For those contracts, the minimum wage rises to $13.65 per hour effective May 11, 2026, with a tipped cash wage of $9.55 per hour.7Federal Register. Minimum Wage for Federal Contracts Covered by Executive Order 13658 – Notice of Rate Change in Effect As those older contracts expire or renew, even this requirement will phase out.
Tipped Workers
Tipped employees are paid through a split of cash wage and tip credit. Under Section 62.052 of the Texas Labor Code, a worker who customarily receives more than $20 a month in tips can be paid through this combination.8State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 62.052 – Tipped Employees Texas defers to the FLSA, which sets the minimum cash wage at $2.13 per hour and lets the employer take a tip credit of up to $5.12 to reach $7.25.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 203 – Definitions
The tip credit has conditions. The employer must tell workers in advance that it’s using the credit, and the employee keeps all tips. If tips plus the $2.13 cash wage fall short of $7.25 in any workweek, the employer must cover the difference. Employers who take any portion of workers’ tips violate federal law whether or not they claim a tip credit.
Tip Pooling
Tip pooling among coworkers who regularly receive tips is allowed. Servers, bartenders, and bussers can be required to share. Managers and supervisors are locked out entirely — federal law prohibits any manager or supervisor from keeping any portion of employees’ tips, whether through a formal pool or a shared jar.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 203 – Definitions That applies even to a business owner with at least 20 percent equity who is actively managing. A manager who serves a customer solo can keep tips from that transaction, but cannot dip into a pool funded by other employees’ work.
Younger Workers
Federal law allows employers to pay workers under age 20 a reduced wage of $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days on the job.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 206 – Minimum Wage After 90 days, or when the worker turns 20, whichever comes first, the full $7.25 rate kicks in. Employers cannot use this reduced rate to displace older workers. Because Texas follows the federal minimum, the youth wage applies statewide.
Overtime
Federal law requires one and a half times the regular hourly rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a workweek.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 207 – Maximum Hours At $7.25, overtime pays $10.88 per hour. Texas has no separate state overtime law for private-sector workers, so the FLSA rules apply. The exemptions that pull certain workers out of minimum wage coverage generally pull them out of overtime as well.
Who Is Exempt
Not every Texas worker is guaranteed $7.25. The Texas Minimum Wage Act includes a sweeping carve-out: if you’re already covered by the federal FLSA, the Texas chapter doesn’t apply to you at all.12State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 62.151 – Person Covered by Fair Labor Standards Act The FLSA covers businesses with at least $500,000 in annual revenue and anyone involved in interstate commerce, which sweeps in most employers. Texas law picks up smaller, purely local employers that fall outside federal reach.
Both Texas and federal law also recognize category-specific exemptions:
- White-collar employees in executive, administrative, or professional roles who earn a salary of at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year) and meet specific duties tests are exempt from minimum wage and overtime. A federal rule that would have raised the threshold to $1,128 per week was struck down by a Texas federal court in November 2024, so $684 remains in effect for 2026.13U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions
- Members of the employer’s immediate family are excluded from the Texas Minimum Wage Act.
- Certain agricultural workers fall outside minimum wage protections, with the specifics depending on the size of the operation and the type of work.
- Student learners and apprentices in approved vocational training programs may be paid below the standard rate during training.
Misclassification is one of the most common wage violations. If you’re salaried but earn less than $684 per week and don’t meet the duties tests, you’re likely entitled to minimum wage and overtime regardless of your job title.
Filing a Wage Claim
Two enforcement routes exist, and their deadlines are very different.
The Texas Workforce Commission accepts wage claims under the Texas Payday Law, but you must file within 180 days of the date the wages were originally due.14Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Payday Law – Wage Claim If only part of your unpaid wages falls within that window, you can only claim those amounts. Miss the deadline and the TWC denies the claim.
The federal route gives you more time. Claims filed with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division reach back up to two years from when the wages were owed, or three years if the violation was willful. A private lawsuit under the FLSA carries the same time limits.
What Employers Owe When They Underpay
Under Texas law, an employer who fails to pay the minimum wage owes the affected employee the unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, effectively doubling what was owed.15State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 62.201 – Civil Penalty The federal FLSA provides the same doubled recovery, and the court must also award reasonable attorney fees and costs to the winning employee.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties
The attorney fee rule matters more than it sounds. Without it, suing over a few hundred dollars in unpaid wages would cost more than the recovery. Because the employer pays the worker’s fees on a win, lawyers take small wage cases, and employers have a reason to settle. For employers who systematically underpay, back wages, doubled damages, and fees across multiple workers add up fast.