The minimum wage in Texas is $7.25 per hour. The state ties its wage floor directly to the federal rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and no Texas city or county can set a higher local minimum. That rate has stood since July 24, 2009, the date of the last federal increase. For tipped workers, salaried employees, students, and a few other categories, the actual required pay can be higher or lower, so the $7.25 figure is the starting point rather than the whole answer.
Who the $7.25 Rate Applies To
Texas Labor Code Section 62.051 requires every employer to pay at least the federal minimum wage, and because Texas adopted the federal rate by reference, any future federal increase would raise Texas wages automatically.1State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 62.051 – Minimum Wage2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 206 – Minimum Wage The rule covers most private-sector and government employees in the state.
One line matters here: minimum wage laws protect employees, not independent contractors. If you’re paid as a 1099 contractor, you have no guaranteed hourly rate under state or federal wage law. Whether someone is properly classified depends on how much control the employer exercises over the work, not what the contract says. Misclassification is one of the most common ways workers lose wage protections without realizing it.
Tipped Workers and the $2.13 Cash Wage
Workers who regularly earn more than $30 a month in tips are “tipped employees” under federal law.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 203 – Definitions For those workers, a Texas employer can pay a direct cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour and count tips toward the remaining $5.12 needed to reach $7.25. The arrangement is called a tip credit.4U.S. Department of Labor. Tips
The credit comes with conditions. The employer must tell you in advance it intends to use it. If your tips in any workweek don’t bridge the gap to $7.25, the employer has to pay the difference. Your tips belong to you, though a valid tip-pooling arrangement among front-of-house service staff is allowed.5Texas Law Help. Tipped Employees
When a customer tips on a credit card, the employer can deduct the card company’s actual processing fee from your tip, but only with your written authorization, and never in a way that drops your effective pay below $7.25.6Texas Workforce Commission. Wage Deduction Authorization Agreement
Overtime Pay After 40 Hours
Texas follows the FLSA overtime rule. Any hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek must be paid at one and one-half times your regular hourly rate. For a worker at the $7.25 floor, overtime pay is $10.88 per hour.7U.S. Department of Labor. Overtime Pay
A workweek is a fixed, recurring 168-hour period of seven consecutive days. It doesn’t have to start on Monday, but once set, it stays fixed. Employers cannot average two weeks together to avoid paying overtime. If you work 50 hours one week and 30 the next, you’re owed 10 hours of overtime for that first week regardless of the second.8eCFR. 29 CFR 778.105 – Determining the Workweek
Weekend or holiday work carries no automatic premium under federal law. The trigger is only the 40-hour threshold. If you earn a nondiscretionary bonus (one that’s promised or tied to performance), the bonus must be rolled into your regular rate before the overtime multiplier is applied, which can increase what you’re owed.
Who Doesn’t Get Overtime
Not every salaried worker qualifies for overtime. The FLSA exempts employees in executive, administrative, and professional roles, but only if they meet both a salary test and a duties test. Job titles alone don’t determine exempt status.9U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17A – Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
The salary threshold for these white-collar exemptions is $684 per week, or $35,568 per year. A separate highly compensated employee exemption applies at $107,432 per year. These figures reflect the 2019 regulatory levels, which remain in effect after a federal court vacated a 2024 rule that would have raised them.10U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions
Each exemption has its own duties requirements:
- Executive exemption: your primary duty is managing the business or a recognized department, you direct at least two full-time employees, and you have real authority over hiring and firing.
- Administrative exemption: your primary duty is office or non-manual work related to business operations, and you regularly exercise independent judgment on significant matters.
- Professional exemption: your primary duty requires advanced knowledge in a specialized field gained through prolonged education, or requires invention and originality in a creative field.
- Computer employee exemption: you work as a systems analyst, programmer, software engineer, or similar, with primary duties in systems analysis, software design, or program development.
If your salary is below $684 per week, you’re entitled to overtime no matter what your duties look like. If your employer labels you “salaried exempt” but your actual work doesn’t fit any of the duties tests above, you may have an overtime claim even above the salary threshold.
Rates Below $7.25
A few categories of workers can legally be paid less than $7.25, but only when the employer holds a special certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor. Texas Labor Code Chapter 62 references the same federal provisions.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 214 – Employment Under Special Certificates
Full-time students in retail, service, agriculture, or at their college can be paid 85 percent of the minimum wage, roughly $6.16 per hour. The certificate limits them to 20 hours per week while school is in session and 40 during breaks.12U.S. Department of Labor. Full-Time Student Program – FLSA Advisor Learners and apprentices can also receive reduced wages during an initial training period under the terms of a DOL certificate. Workers whose productive capacity is affected by a physical or mental disability may be paid a sub-minimum wage proportional to their productivity compared to non-disabled workers doing the same job.
These rates are not something an employer can decide to pay on its own. Without the certificate, the full $7.25 applies. If you’re being paid less and your employer can’t produce documentation of a valid DOL certificate, that’s worth questioning.
Deductions That Can Erode Your Hourly Pay
Under the Texas Payday Law, employers cannot deduct anything from your paycheck without a written authorization that spells out the amount and purpose. A vague blanket consent doesn’t count.6Texas Workforce Commission. Wage Deduction Authorization Agreement
Common lawful deductions, with written consent, include your share of health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, loan repayments, and the cost of company property you damaged or lost. For damaged or lost property, the deduction generally cannot pull your pay below the minimum wage. Uniforms and cleaning costs follow the same rule: your employer can charge you the actual cost, but not in a way that drops your hourly earnings below $7.25 or cuts into overtime owed.
This matters most for tipped workers already near the $2.13 cash-wage floor. A uniform deduction that looks modest on paper can push a server’s effective pay under the legal minimum if tips don’t cover the gap.
If You’ve Been Underpaid
If your employer has paid you less than the minimum wage or shorted your overtime, you can file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission under the Texas Payday Law. The deadline is 180 days from the date the wages were originally due, and TWC counts the date it receives the claim, not the date you mail it.13Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Payday Law – Wage Claim You can file online, in person at a TWC office or Workforce Solutions center, by mail, or by fax.14Texas Workforce Commission. Wage Claim and Appeal Process in Texas
If you’ve missed the 180-day window, or your claim involves a federal overtime violation, you can file a complaint instead with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, which allows two years for standard violations and three years for willful ones. Under federal law, an employee who wins can recover the unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, which effectively doubles the recovery, and the FLSA allows attorney’s fees to be paid by the employer.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties