What Is the Minimum Wage in Raleigh, North Carolina?

The minimum wage in Raleigh, NC is $7.25 per hour. That matches both the North Carolina state minimum and the federal rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and it has not changed since 2009. State law ties North Carolina’s wage floor directly to the federal rate whenever federal is higher, and a separate preemption rule blocks Raleigh from setting anything above it. A handful of workers, mostly tipped employees and new hires under 20, can legally be paid less in cash per hour.

Who Gets the $7.25 Rate

Every non-exempt worker in Raleigh is entitled to at least $7.25 per hour, regardless of industry, employer size, or whether the job is full-time or part-time. North Carolina General Statute 95-25.3 requires employers to pay the federal minimum or $6.15 per hour, whichever is higher, so the federal $7.25 under 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1) controls.¹² The North Carolina Department of Labor enforces the standard statewide.

Why Raleigh Can’t Set a Higher Local Rate

North Carolina’s Wage and Hour Act strips cities and counties of the power to regulate employer pay. The statute’s preemption clause overrides any local ordinance, regulation, or policy that would set wage levels, require benefits, or control hours of labor. Local governments can set pay rules only for their own employees or where federal grant conditions require it.³

So even as Raleigh’s cost of living has climbed, the city council has no authority to raise the minimum within its borders. A change has to come from the General Assembly or Congress.

Tipped Workers: $2.13 Cash Plus Tips

Restaurants, bars, and other employers of tipped workers in Raleigh can pay a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour and apply a tip credit of up to $5.12 to reach the $7.25 standard. The $2.13 floor comes from federal law, which locks the cash wage at the rate that applied on August 20, 1996.⁴¹

The tip credit only works if three conditions are met. The employee must be told in advance that the employer intends to count tips toward the minimum wage. The employee must keep all tips, though tip pooling among workers who regularly earn tips is allowed. And the employer must keep accurate records of tips received, certified by the employee each pay period or monthly.

The rule that gets broken most often: if your cash wage plus tips doesn’t reach $7.25 for every hour in a pay period, your employer has to make up the difference. Slow shifts and slow seasons are where shortfalls show up. North Carolina also caps tip pooling so that no employee’s tips are reduced by more than 15 percent.¹

Workers Under 20: $4.25 for 90 Days

Federal law lets employers pay workers under 20 a reduced rate of $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment.⁵ The clock runs on calendar days, not days worked, so weekends and days off count. Once 90 days pass, or the worker turns 20, the full $7.25 applies.

An employer can’t fire or cut the hours of an existing employee to put a youth worker in that slot at the lower rate. That kind of displacement violates the FLSA.

Who Is Not Covered at All

North Carolina General Statute 95-25.14 exempts several groups of workers from the state minimum wage.⁶ The main categories:

Agricultural workers in farming operations as defined by the FLSA.
Domestic workers in private homes, including babysitters and companions.
Volunteers for medical, educational, religious, or nonprofit organizations where there is no employer-employee relationship.
Employees of summer camps for children and seasonal religious or nonprofit educational conference centers.
Actors, models, and production-role employees at outdoor dramas (office workers, ticket takers, and parking attendants at those venues stay covered).
People confined in and working for state or local correctional or mental health facilities.
Legislative pages in the General Assembly and pages in the Governor’s Office.

Overtime After 40 Hours

Non-exempt employees in Raleigh are entitled to one and a half times their regular hourly rate for any time worked over 40 hours in a workweek.⁷ At the $7.25 minimum, that comes to $10.88 per overtime hour.

Overtime is calculated weekly, not daily. A 12-hour shift doesn’t trigger overtime on its own. What matters is the total for the workweek, which the employer defines as any fixed, recurring 168-hour period. It doesn’t have to start on Monday.

What to Do If You’re Being Underpaid

The agency depends on the kind of violation. Minimum wage, overtime, and tip problems go to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Other wage disputes, including unpaid wages that don’t involve overtime, final paycheck problems, unauthorized deductions, and vacation pay, go to the North Carolina Department of Labor.⁸

Filing with the State

State complaints are filed online through the NC Department of Labor. Have your employer’s physical address, the name of an owner or manager, your rate of pay, the pay periods in question, and the total you believe you’re owed. The state won’t accept complaints for wages owed more than one year ago and won’t investigate claims under $50.⁸

Filing with the Federal Wage and Hour Division

Minimum wage and overtime complaints go to the federal Wage and Hour Division online or by calling 1-866-487-9243. The complaint routes to the nearest field office, and an investigator contacts you. Your identity, the nature of the complaint, and even the fact that a complaint exists are kept confidential.⁹¹⁰¹¹

What You Can Recover

An employer who shortchanged you owes the full unpaid wages. The FLSA also provides liquidated damages equal to that amount, which effectively doubles the recovery unless the employer proves it acted in good faith. A successful lawsuit also lets you recover attorney’s fees and court costs. Repeat or willful violators face civil penalties of up to $2,515 per violation assessed by the Department of Labor.¹²¹³

Protection Against Retaliation

Federal law makes it illegal for an employer to fire, demote, cut hours, or otherwise punish you for filing a wage complaint, participating in an investigation, or testifying in a wage proceeding.¹⁴ Those protections apply even if the complaint ultimately lacks legal merit, as long as you raised it in good faith. A retaliated-against worker can recover lost wages, reinstatement, and liquidated damages equal to the lost wages.¹² Putting your concerns in writing first, and keeping a copy, creates a record that strengthens a retaliation claim later if the employer responds badly.

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 95-25.3 – Minimum Wage
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 206 – Minimum Wage
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 95 Article 2A – Wage and Hour Act
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 203 – Definitions
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 32 – Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 95-25.14 – Exemptions
7
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 95-25.4 – Overtime
8
North Carolina Department of Labor. How and Where to File a Wage Complaint
9
U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 255 – Statute of Limitations
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Back Pay
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties
13
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 578 – Tip Retention, Minimum Wage, and Overtime Violations
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 215 – Prohibited Acts