Massachusetts Minimum Wage 2026: $15.00 an Hour, $6.75 for Tipped Workers

Massachusetts’ minimum wage is $15.00 an hour in 2026, more than double the federal $7.25 [1][3]. The law applies the rate to “any occupation,” with no lower rate for small businesses [3]. The rate you’re owed mostly depends on whether you earn tips, and the special rules for farm work.

How Massachusetts got to $15

A 2018 state law raised the minimum wage in steps: $12.00 in 2019, $12.75 in 2020, $13.50 in 2021, $14.25 in 2022 and $15.00 on January 1, 2023 [6]. There’s no automatic yearly increase built into the law after that, so the rate has stayed at $15.00 [3]. The law does set a floor: the state rate can never be less than 50 cents above the federal minimum [1][3].

For a national comparison, see our sister site’s minimum wage by state guide on BestAmerica.

Tipped workers: the service rate

Restaurant servers, bartenders and other service employees can be paid a lower cash wage of $6.75 an hour [4]. That means the employer can count up to $8.25 an hour of tips toward the $15.00 minimum [2].

The rules that protect you [4]:

• You must regularly earn more than $20 a month in tips for the lower rate to apply.
• Your employer has to tell you about the service-rate rule.
• Cash wage plus tips must equal at least $15.00 for the hours you work. If tips fall short on a shift, the employer pays the difference.
• You keep your tips. Tip pools are allowed only among employees who regularly get tips.

Farm workers

Agriculture has its own rule. State law treats a wage under $8.00 an hour in agriculture and farming as oppressive and unreasonable [5]. That number is a legal floor written into the statute, not a separate yearly rate.

Overtime

Covered workers earn 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek [1]. Some jobs are exempt from overtime under state or federal law, so check your job type before assuming you’re owed it.

What happened to Sunday and holiday premium pay

Massachusetts retail stores used to owe many hourly workers time and a half on Sundays and certain holidays. The 2018 law cut the premium each year, from 1.4 times in 2019 down to 1.1 times in 2022, and ended it on January 1, 2023 [6].

One protection stayed. Under the current law, a retail employee can’t be required to work on a Sunday or covered holiday, and refusing can’t be grounds for firing, cutting hours or any other penalty [7]. The Attorney General enforces that rule [7].

If you’re paid less than you’re owed

1. Ask first. Payroll mistakes happen. Ask your employer, in writing if you can, how your pay was figured.
2. File with the Attorney General. The Fair Labor Division takes wage and hour complaints online, and you can file anonymously. For a paper form or help, call the Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 [10].
3. Know your court rights. You can sue your employer 90 days after filing a complaint with the Attorney General, or sooner if the office agrees in writing. You have 3 years to sue, and that clock pauses while the complaint is pending [8].

If you win a minimum wage or unpaid wage case, the law awards triple damages for the wages you lost, plus your court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees [8][9].