What Is Philadelphia’s Minimum Wage? Rates, Tipped, and Airport Workers

The minimum wage in Philadelphia is $7.25 per hour for most private-sector workers, matching the Pennsylvania and federal rate. If you work for the City of Philadelphia, for a company that contracts with the city, or at Philadelphia International Airport, a higher rate applies. The number you’re legally owed depends on who signs your paycheck.

The $7.25 Rate for Most Private Employers

Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since July 2009, the same as the federal floor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.¹ If your employer is a private business in Philadelphia with no city contract, that’s your rate.

Philadelphia cannot set a higher wage on its own. The Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act preempts local ordinances on the subject, with a narrow exception for ordinances already in place before January 1, 2006.² The city has acknowledged that any increase for private-sector workers “must occur at the state level.”³ That’s why the higher rates below exist only where Philadelphia itself is the employer or a party to the contract.

City Employees and City Contractors: $15 and Rising

If you work directly for the City of Philadelphia or for a company doing business with the city, your minimum wage reached $15.00 per hour on July 1, 2022. Since July 1, 2023, that figure has been adjusted upward every July 1 based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in Philadelphia, calculated by the city’s Director of Finance.⁴ The current rate sits somewhat above $15.00.

Coverage reaches well past people with a city paycheck. You’re likely covered if you work for:

A for-profit service contractor that receives at least $10,000 per year from the city and has gross revenues over $1,000,000.
A nonprofit service contractor whose city contract exceeds $100,000 in any 12-month period.
An employer operating under a city lease, concession, or franchise agreement.
An organization that received more than $100,000 in city financial assistance within a 12-month period. In that case the wage requirement follows the employer for five years after the money is received.⁵

A few categories of workers on city-funded jobs are carved out: construction workers already covered by prevailing wage rules, participants in summer employment programs for teens and students, and people in bona fide internships or short training programs of no more than 60 days that lead to permanent employment.⁵

Philadelphia International Airport Workers

If you work at Philadelphia International Airport for an airline operating under a city lease, or for a contractor to one of those airlines, a separate prevailing wage ordinance applies. The minimum under the current regulations is $17.20 per hour, plus a supplemental health benefit paid on top of the hourly rate.⁶ Baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, and wheelchair attendants are among the covered roles.

Tipped Workers

Philadelphia has no separate rule for tipped workers, so Pennsylvania’s standard controls. Your employer can pay a cash wage as low as $2.83 per hour as long as your tips bring you to at least $7.25 per hour overall. The $4.42 gap between the cash wage and the full minimum is called a tip credit.⁷ In any week your tips fall short, the employer has to make up the difference. The tip credit is only available for employees who earn at least $135 in tips per month.

Domestic Workers

Nannies, house cleaners, and caregivers 18 or older who work in someone else’s home for pay are covered by Philadelphia’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights under Chapter 9-4500 of the Philadelphia Code, in effect since May 1, 2020. Pet sitters, dog walkers, and people doing repair or maintenance work like plumbing or painting are not covered.⁸

The law does not set a special wage rate. It requires domestic workers be paid at least the highest applicable local, state, or federal minimum, which for most Philadelphia households is $7.25 per hour. Where it goes further is in structure: if the work runs more than five hours per month over more than one month, the employer must give the worker a signed written contract before the first day of work, in the worker’s preferred language, covering duties, pay, schedule, breaks, sick time, and benefits.⁹ The regulations also require paid 10-minute rest breaks every four hours, a 30-minute meal break after five consecutive hours, accrued sick leave, and two weeks of notice or severance on termination (four weeks for live-in workers). These apply regardless of employee or independent-contractor classification and regardless of immigration status.⁸

What To Do If You’re Being Underpaid

Where you file depends on who violated the law.

For wage theft and violations of Philadelphia’s own ordinances, including the $15-plus contractor wage, file with the Philadelphia Department of Labor’s Office of Worker Protections.¹⁰ Your complaint must involve unpaid wages that meet the ordinance’s minimum threshold, a violation that occurred inside the city, and must be filed within three years of when you knew or should have known about it.¹¹ If the finding goes your way, you’re entitled to liquidated damages equal to the unpaid wages or $500, whichever is greater.¹²

For violations of the state’s $7.25 minimum or overtime rules by any employer, file with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, which investigates suspected violations statewide.¹³

For serious or repeated wage theft, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Labor Crimes Enforcement Unit investigates wage theft, worker misclassification, and labor trafficking as criminal matters.¹⁴

Your employer cannot legally fire you, cut your hours, demote you, change your duties, give you an unjustified negative review, or otherwise punish you for filing a complaint. These retaliation protections apply regardless of immigration status, and a retaliation claim can be filed with the Office of Worker Protections or the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations.¹⁵

What Could Change

Pennsylvania’s legislature has been weighing bills to raise the state minimum above $7.25. The most prominent proposal would set a $15 rate in the state’s most populous counties, Philadelphia included, with smaller increases in the rest of the state. No increase has been signed into law. Because of state preemption, any raise for private-sector workers in Philadelphia will have to come from Harrisburg.

1
U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wage
2
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 43 PS 333.114a – Preemption
3
City of Philadelphia. Higher Minimum Wage for Pennsylvania
4
City of Philadelphia. All City Workers and Contractors to Start at $15 Per Hour
5
City of Philadelphia. Policy Regarding Minimum Wage and Benefits to Be Provided by City Contractors and Subcontractors
6
City of Philadelphia. Regulations Concerning Wages and Benefits for Airport Service Employees
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees
8
City of Philadelphia Department of Labor. Regulation Regarding Chapter 9-4500 of The Philadelphia Code – Protections for Domestic Workers
9
City of Philadelphia. Written Contract Template for Housecleaners – Domestic Worker Bill of Rights
10
City of Philadelphia. Department of Labor – Homepage
11
American Legal Publishing. Philadelphia Code 9-4303 – Procedures for Wage Theft Complaints
12
American Legal Publishing. Philadelphia Code 9-4307 – Penalties for Wage Theft
13
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. File a Minimum Wage and Overtime Complaint
14
Office of the District Attorney – City of Philadelphia. Labor Crimes Enforcement Unit
15
City of Philadelphia. Retaliation