Minimum Wage in Las Vegas, Nevada: Rate, Overtime, and Coverage

The minimum wage in Las Vegas, Nevada is $12.00 per hour. That single rate applies to every covered employee in the city, whether or not the employer offers health insurance, and whether or not the worker earns tips.¹ The $12.00 floor has been in effect since July 1, 2024, and no further increases are scheduled.

The Current Rate

Nevada sets the minimum wage at the state level. There is no separate rate for Clark County or the City of Las Vegas, so the statewide $12.00 is what every covered employer in the metro area must pay.¹

Nevada used to run a two-tiered system, with a lower rate for employers that offered qualifying health benefits. Voters ended that split in November 2022 through Ballot Question 2. Today the rate is flat: $12.00 for everyone, regardless of benefits.¹

At $12.00 per hour, a 40-hour workweek pays $480 before taxes. That works out to roughly $24,960 a year before any overtime.

Tipped Workers Get the Full $12.00

This is important in a city built on hospitality. Under federal law, employers in most states can pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 per hour and count tips toward the difference. Nevada does not allow that. State law makes it illegal for any employer to apply tips or gratuities as a credit toward the minimum wage.²

A server, bartender, valet, casino dealer, or any other tipped worker in Las Vegas must receive at least $12.00 per hour from the employer before tips are counted. Tips belong to the employee, and employers cannot deduct credit card processing fees from those tips.

Nevada’s Daily Overtime Rule

Nevada’s overtime rules are more protective than the federal standard because the state requires daily overtime in addition to weekly overtime.

The rule depends on your hourly rate. If you earn less than 1.5 times the minimum wage, meaning less than $18.00 per hour, your employer owes time-and-a-half whenever you work more than 8 hours in a day or more than 40 hours in a week. If you earn $18.00 an hour or more, overtime is triggered only after 40 hours in a workweek.³

There is a common exception. If you and your employer mutually agree to a four-day, ten-hour schedule, the tenth hour on those days does not trigger daily overtime. The agreement has to be genuinely mutual. An employer cannot impose the schedule and call it agreed.

Certain workers are exempt from overtime altogether, including executive and administrative employees, agricultural workers, taxicab and limousine drivers, railroad and airline employees, outside salespeople, and employees whose collective bargaining agreements address overtime differently.³

Who the Rate Applies To

If you work for an employer in Las Vegas and receive an hourly wage, the $12.00 floor almost certainly applies to you.¹

The main carve-out is for salaried workers who qualify as exempt under federal rules for executive, administrative, and professional employees. To fit that exemption, a worker must earn at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year) and perform duties involving management of other employees, independent judgment on significant business matters, or advanced knowledge in a specialized field. The Department of Labor tried to raise that salary threshold in 2024, but a federal court struck the rule down in November 2024, keeping it at $684 per week.⁴

Independent contractors are not covered by minimum wage laws. This is where a lot of underpayment cases start. An employer cannot simply label you a contractor to avoid the $12.00 floor. The IRS and state agencies look at how the work actually happens: who controls the schedule, who provides the tools, and whether the arrangement resembles employment or a real freelance engagement.⁵ If your employer controls how you do the work, you may be misclassified and entitled to the full minimum wage regardless of what your contract says.

If You Are Being Paid Less Than $12.00

You have two years from the date of the underpayment to file a civil lawsuit for unpaid wages. Signing a contract that agreed to a lower rate does not bar the claim. If you win, the court must award you attorney’s fees and costs on top of your back pay and any other damages.⁶

You can also file a wage claim with the Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner. That route does not require a lawyer. The Labor Commissioner can impose an administrative penalty of up to $5,000 per violation on employers who pay below the minimum, and a willful violation is a misdemeanor under state law.⁶

Employers are required to post notices about the minimum wage and overtime rules where employees can see them. A missing poster is not proof of underpayment on its own, but it is a reason to compare your pay stubs against the $12.00 hourly floor.

Whether the Rate Will Go Up

The $12.00 rate was the final step in a five-year schedule of 75-cent annual increases created by Assembly Bill 456 in 2019.¹ After that, the schedule ends.

Nevada does not tie its minimum wage to inflation, so the rate does not adjust automatically. Any future increase would require new legislation from the Nevada Legislature or a ballot initiative approved by voters. No such measure has been enacted, and no scheduled increases apply to 2025 or 2026.

1
State of Nevada Department of Business & Industry. Changes Coming to Nevada’s Minimum Wage, Overtime Effective July 1, 2024
2
Office Of The Labor Commissioners. Nevada Tip Guide
3
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 608.018 – Compensation for Overtime
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions
5
Internal Revenue Service. Independent Contractor (Self-Employed) or Employee?
6
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 608 – Compensation, Wages and Hours