Current Minimum Wage
Delaware minimum wage$15.00since January 1, 2025

State minimum wage

Delaware minimum wage

$15.00 an hour as of September 2, 2026. Tipped cash wage $2.23.

  • The Delaware minimum wage is $15.00 an hour, set by state law effective .
  • No increase is currently scheduled in Delaware.
  • Tipped employees must be paid at least $2.23 in cash, with a tip credit of up to $12.77.
  • At $15.00 an hour, full-time work (2,080 hours) pays $31,200 a year before taxes.

Tipped cash wage

$2.23
Tip credit up to $12.77

Youth / training

None
No statutory youth or training rate: the former youth/training wage in 19 Del. C. 902(e) is repealed; the Department may authorize sub-minimum rates for learners and apprentices by regulation under...

Next change

None scheduled
Set by statute; no indexing

Local rates

None found
No express state statute preempting local minimum wages was located; no Delaware locality has enacted one.

Coverage, exemptions, and history

Who is covered. all employers.

Tipped employees. Employees who customarily receive more than $30 a month in tips may be paid a cash wage of not less than $2.23 per hour with gratuities making up the rest of the minimum wage (19 Del. C. 902(c)).

Recent history. Reached $15.00 on 2025-01-01, the final step of SB 15 (2021); no further increases or indexing enacted.

Statute adopts a higher federal minimum wage by reference if one is ever set. NCSL's row saying Delaware indexing 'began July 1, 2021' contradicts the statute; treated as an NCSL error.

Statute. 19 Del.

Common questions

What is the minimum wage in Delaware?

$15.00 an hour as of September 2, 2026, under state law effective January 1, 2025.

When does the Delaware minimum wage go up next?

No increase is scheduled.

What is the tipped minimum wage in Delaware?

$2.23 in cash plus tips; the employer must make up any shortfall to $15.00.

Do any cities in Delaware have a higher minimum wage?

None were found in effect.

Sources

  1. https://industrialaffairs.delaware.gov/wage-hour?hsLang=en-us official
  2. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title19/c009/index.html official
  3. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state official
  4. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped official
  5. https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/inventory-of-us-city-and-county-minimum-wage-ordinances/

Checked 2026-09-02 against Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs, Office of Labor Law...; researcher confidence 0.90.