Maine's Minimum Wage to Increase to $15.10 Per Hour in 2026

September 11, 2025

For Immediate Release: September 11, 2025

Maine's Minimum Wage to Increase to $15.10 Per Hour in 2026

AUGUSTA - The Maine Department of Labor announced today that effective January 1, 2026, the state minimum wage will increase from $14.65 to $15.10 per hour, based on data recently made available by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. MDOL is required under Maine law (Maine statute Title 26, chapter 7, section 664), to make annual adjustments to the minimum wage based on the cost-of-living index (CPI-W) for the Northeast Region, after Maine voters amended the law by referendum in 2016. Between August 2024 and August 2025, there was a 3.1 percent increase in the CPI-W.

According to Current Population Survey estimates, 35,000 workers were paid hourly and earned an hourly wage of less than $15 per hour in 2024. These workers represent about five percent of all wages and salary workers (both paid at hourly rates and not paid at hourly rates) and about nine percent of wage and salary employees that are paid at hourly rates.

The state minimum wage now also pertains to agricultural workers in Maine, after the Legislature enacted and Governor Mills signed 'An Act to Establish a State Minimum Hourly Wage for Agricultural Workers' in June.

In addition to the minimum wage, the new "tip wage," or service employee minimum wage, in 2026 will be $7.55 per hour. This means that service employees must receive at least a direct cash wage of $7.55 per hour from the employer. The employer must be able to show that the employee receives at least the minimum wage of $15.10 per hour when the direct wage and tips are combined at the end of the week. The amount of tips necessary to qualify as a service employee will increase from $185 per month to $191 per month.

The minimum salary threshold for exempting a worker from overtime pay must exceed 3,000 times the State's minimum wage or the annualized rate established by the US Department of Labor, whichever is higher. Starting January 1, 2026, the new minimum salary threshold for salaried workers exempt from overtime will be $871.16 per week, or $45,300.32 per year. This is only one of the factors used in determining whether a worker is exempt from overtime pay under federal or state law. An individual can earn more than the minimum salary threshold and still be eligible for overtime. The duties of each worker must be considered as part of this analysis.

Employers can download the required minimum wage poster at no cost on the Department's website: https://www.maine.gov/labor/posters/

The minimum wage and overtime law can be found here: http://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/26/title26sec664.html .

More information about minimum wage and other labor standards is available at https://www.maine.gov/labor/bls/