Florida Minimum Wage 2027

When Florida's minimum wage goes up next

Not in 2027. Florida raised its rate every September 30 from 2021 to 2026, one dollar at a time, until it reached $15.00. Those steps were written into the state constitution by voters in 2020, and the last one has now happened. FloridaCommerce, the state agency that publishes the rate, says $15.00 is “effective from September 30, 2026, to December 31, 2027.”

The next raise is the first one tied to prices. On September 30, 2027 the agency calculates the new rate from the rise in the consumer price index for urban wage earners (CPI-W) over the previous twelve months. State law requires it to post the result by October 15, 2027, and the new rate starts January 1, 2028. From then on the change comes every January 1, not every September 30. Until the 2028 figure is published, nobody can say what it will be; this page will show it once Florida does.

One detail is open. The constitution names the CPI-W without a region, while the Florida Minimum Wage Act (section 448.110) names the CPI-W for the South region, not seasonally adjusted. For its last inflation adjustment, the one for January 2021, FloridaCommerce worked with the South figures. It has not said which index it will use for 2028.

The six dollar steps, 2021 to 2026

Before the 2020 amendment, Florida adjusted its rate for inflation each January 1: it was $8.65 from January 1, 2021, after $8.56 in 2020.

Servers, bartenders and other tipped workers: $11.98

Florida lets an employer count tips toward the minimum wage, but only up to a fixed $3.02 an hour. That figure is the federal tip credit as it stood in 2003, frozen into the constitution, so the cash wage always sits exactly $3.02 below the full minimum: $11.98 an hour now, after $10.98 until September 29, 2026.

For a server working 32 hours a week, that is $383.36 in cash wages from the restaurant. Cash wages plus tips must reach $480.00 for those hours; if they fall short, the employer must pay the rest. The tip credit is allowed only for employees who would qualify for it under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville

A city or county in Florida may not require private employers to pay a minimum wage other than the state or federal one (section 218.077 of the Florida Statutes). Private jobs in Miami-Dade, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville or any other place therefore follow the same $15.00. Local governments can still set a higher wage for their own employees, or for a company that receives a direct tax break or subsidy from them as a condition of that deal.

The Florida rate applies to employees who are owed the federal minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (section 448.110(3)), which covers most jobs. For them the state's $15.00 replaces the federal $7.25.

$15.00 an hour by the week, month and year

A 40-hour week at $15.00 is $600.00 before taxes and a full year is $31,200. Florida has no personal income tax, so take-home pay here only loses federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Part-time hours are common in restaurants and retail, so the table shows those too; the Florida paycheck calculator works per pay period.

If an employer pays less than $15.00

Florida's minimum wage is enforced mainly in court, and the law sets a first step. Before suing for unpaid minimum wages, the worker must send the employer a written notice that names the rate claimed, the dates and hours worked, and the total owed. The employer then has 15 calendar days to pay or settle (section 448.110(6)).

If it does not, a worker who wins recovers the back wages plus the same amount again as damages, and the employer pays reasonable attorney's fees. The time limit is four years, or five years when the violation was willful (Article X, Section 24(e)). Complaints under the federal minimum wage can also go to the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division.

How this is calculated

Florida is preselected. Because no step falls in 2027, the only dates to choose are today and January 1, 2027, and both give $15.00. The calculator multiplies the hourly rate by the hours you enter for one week, counts 52 weeks in the year, and divides the year by 12 for a month.

For take-home pay it applies the 2026 federal income tax brackets for a single filer without children, along with Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%). No Florida tax is withheld from wages. Overtime and tips are not added.