Virginia Minimum Wage: Rates and Employer Rules
Virginia’s minimum wage is $12.77 an hour, rising to $13.75 and then $15.00. Tip credit math, exemptions, training wage, and poster rules explained.
Virginia Minimum Wage
The current rate, the two increases already written into law, tip credit math, and what to change every January
One January a restaurant owner in Richmond called me because his bookkeeper had spotted something ugly in the first payroll run of the year. Six servers and two dishwashers were still on the old hourly rate. The state minimum had moved on January 1, the payroll file had not, and two weeks of underpayment were already out the door.
That mistake is easy to make in Virginia because the number keeps moving. For several years it moved by inflation, announced each summer for the following January. Then the General Assembly put fixed steps back into the statute, so the next two increases are already known amounts on known dates. That is good news: you can budget them now instead of waiting for an announcement.
This page covers one thing, the Virginia wage floor, and covers it in the order a payroll question actually arrives. For overtime, leave, hiring paperwork and everything else the Commonwealth requires, the Virginia HR compliance guide is the broader reference. FirstHR exists because small teams without an HR person carry this whole load themselves.
The Current Virginia Rate
The Virginia minimum wage is $12.77 per hour, effective January 1, 2026. It holds at that level until January 1, 2027 under Va. Code section 40.1-28.10, which requires every employer to pay the greater of the state rate or the federal rate.
The rate applies to most employees working in Virginia, whether they are full-time, part-time, seasonal or temporary. Headcount does not matter. A two-person shop is covered on the same terms as a two-hundred-person one, which is a real difference from Virginia rules such as workers compensation and discrimination coverage that switch on at a threshold.
The $12.77 figure started as an inflation adjustment. The Commissioner of Labor and Industry announced it on July 29, 2025, taking the 2025 rate of $12.41 and adding the 2.9 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers. Legislation enacted in 2026 then copied that number into the statute and added fixed steps after it.
| Effective date | Virginia rate | How it was set |
|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2025 | $12.41 | Inflation adjustment announced by the Commissioner |
| January 1, 2026 (current) | $12.77 | Inflation adjustment of 2.9 percent, later fixed in statute |
| January 1, 2027 | $13.75 | Fixed amount in Va. Code 40.1-28.10(C) |
| January 1, 2028 | $15.00 | Fixed amount in Va. Code 40.1-28.10(D) |
| January 1, 2029 and after | Indexed to CPI-U | Commissioner sets the rate by October 1 of the prior year |
The Next Scheduled Increases
Two increases are scheduled. The rate goes to $13.75 on January 1, 2027, a jump of 98 cents, and to $15.00 on January 1, 2028, a further $1.25. Governor Spanberger signed the bills on April 9, 2026, and the amounts are now in the Code.
Because these are fixed amounts rather than inflation adjustments, no summer announcement precedes them. Employers who spent past years waiting for the Commissioner to publish a number can skip that step for the next two cycles and put the dates straight into the compensation plan.
Annual indexing returns after the $15.00 step. The Commissioner sets the adjusted rate for 2029 by October 1, 2028, and by October 1 every year after that, using the CPI-U increase for the most recent calendar year. The statute says the adjustment can never be below zero, so the wage floor holds steady rather than falling if prices stall.
The budget arithmetic is simple and worth doing early. Moving one full-time employee from $12.77 to $15.00 costs $2.23 an hour, or about $4,638 a year at 2,080 hours, before payroll taxes. A crew of eight at the floor is roughly $37,000 of additional annual wage cost phased across two Januaries.
Tipped Employees and the Tip Credit
Virginia allows a tip credit. A tipped employee can be paid a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour, provided tips bring total earnings to at least the Virginia minimum for every hour worked. The Department of Labor and Industry states this plainly in its rate announcement, pointing to the Fair Labor Standards Act for the $2.13 cash floor and to Virginia law for the total.
The mechanics sit in Va. Code section 40.1-28.9. A tipped employee is one who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. The employer determines the amount credited, and the employee can challenge that amount by establishing actual tips with clear and convincing evidence. An employee who is barred by law from soliciting tips cannot be classified as tipped at all.
| Effective date | Virginia minimum | Minimum cash wage | Maximum tip credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2026 (current) | $12.77 | $2.13 | $10.64 |
| January 1, 2027 | $13.75 | $2.13 | $11.62 |
| January 1, 2028 | $15.00 | $2.13 | $12.87 |
Notice what the table does to your risk. The cash wage stays frozen while the credit widens, so each increase makes tips carry more of the total. In a slow week that gap is the employer's to fill, and the shortfall is calculated per workweek, not averaged across a month. Federal notice rules for taking the credit still apply, and the mechanics are covered in our guide to tipped employee minimum wage.
City and County Rates
No Virginia city or county sets its own minimum wage for private employers. There is one statewide rate, which means a business with locations in Roanoke, Richmond and Virginia Beach runs the same wage floor in all three. That is one fewer thing to track than employers face in states with local ordinances.
Two contract-based exceptions exist, and neither is a general wage law. A locality can require higher pay from companies that hold its own service contracts: Alexandria does this through a living wage ordinance covering contractors providing services on city-owned or city-controlled property. Separately, public works contracts with state agencies and localities carry prevailing wage rates determined by the Commissioner under Va. Code section 2.2-4321.3.
| Wage floor | Who it binds | How it relates to $12.77 |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia minimum wage | Every covered employer statewide | The baseline; no locality may set a different one |
| Local living wage | Contractors serving that locality under contract | Higher; set by the awarding locality, not by state law |
| Prevailing wage on public works | Contractors on state or local public works projects | Higher; set by trade and planning district |
| Washington DC rate | Employees physically working in DC | Higher; DC law governs those hours, not Virginia law |
The cross-border case is the one that catches Northern Virginia employers. Staff who physically work in the District are covered by DC wage law for those hours regardless of where your office sits, and the rules there are covered in the Washington DC compliance guide.
Who Is Exempt From the State Rate
Virginia has no fast food carve-out and no healthcare carve-out. The exemptions run by worker category rather than by industry, and they sit in the definition of employee in Va. Code section 40.1-28.9. Home care providers are named as included, so home health and personal care staff are covered.
The one true industry exemption is agriculture, and it is ending. Farm laborers and farm employees are excluded from the state act only until January 1, 2027. From that date the same wage floor that covers a retail clerk covers a farm crew, which for many Virginia growers is the biggest payroll change of the decade.
| Category | Status under the Virginia act | What still applies |
|---|---|---|
| Farm laborers and farm employees | Excluded until January 1, 2027 | State rate applies in full from that date |
| Home care providers | Covered, named in the statute | Full state rate |
| Anyone under 16 | Excluded at any employer | Federal minimum wage and Virginia child labor rules |
| Under 18 working for a parent or guardian | Excluded | Federal rules on covered work |
| Full-time students under 18, 20 hours a week or less | Excluded | Federal minimum wage where covered |
| Work-study students and students in a bona fide educational program | Excluded | Program terms and federal rules |
| Babysitters working fewer than 10 hours a week | Excluded | Federal domestic service rules |
| Golf caddies, taxicab drivers, commission outside salespeople | Excluded | Federal minimum wage where covered |
| Summer camp staff | Excluded | Federal seasonal establishment rules |
| Au pairs and temporary foreign workers | Excluded | Federal program wage rules |
| Seasonal amusement and recreational staff exempt under 29 U.S.C. 213(a)(3) | Excluded | Federal exemption terms |
One trap deserves its own sentence. Exempt from the Virginia act does not mean exempt from federal law. A worker excluded from the state definition may still be covered by the federal wage floor, and the two systems have to be checked separately. Classification of salaried staff is a different question again, handled in our breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt employees.
A further exclusion covers certain workers with disabilities employed under a special federal certificate issued before July 1, 2023. That exclusion disappears from the statute on July 1, 2030, at which point those workers move onto the standard Virginia rate.
Youth and Training Wages
Virginia has no separate youth rate. Instead, anyone under 16 falls outside the state act entirely, so the federal wage floor governs that work. Federal law also allows a youth opportunity wage of $4.25 per hour for employees under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days, and the detail sits on our federal minimum wage page.
Virginia does have a training wage. Va. Code section 40.1-28.10(A)(2) sets the floor at the greater of the federal minimum wage or 75 percent of the Virginia minimum for a person enrolled in an established employer on-the-job or other training program lasting no more than 90 days. The catch is in the same sentence: the program has to meet standards set by regulations adopted by the Commissioner.
| Period | Virginia minimum | Training wage floor at 75 percent |
|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027 | $12.77 | $9.58 |
| January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028 | $13.75 | $10.32 |
| From January 1, 2028 | $15.00 | $11.25 |
Round the training wage up, never down. Seventy-five percent of $12.77 is $9.5775, so $9.58 is the safe number and $9.57 is a shortfall. Before paying anyone at this level, confirm with the Department of Labor and Industry that your training program qualifies, because a program that falls short of the regulatory standard leaves you owing the full rate.
The Poster Requirement
Virginia does not require a minimum wage poster. The Department of Labor and Industry lists the Virginia Minimum Wage Notice under optional state posters and publishes a fresh English and Spanish version for each calendar year. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act poster, WH Publication 1088, is on the required federal list and every covered employer must display it.
Post the optional notice anyway. It costs nothing, it answers the question employees ask most often in January, and it is evidence that the current rate was communicated. Swap it for the new version each year, the same week you update payroll.
The rule with teeth is on the pay statement. Va. Code section 40.1-29 requires a paystub or online statement every payday showing the rate of pay, gross wages and the amount and purpose of every deduction, with enough detail for the employee to check the math. Hours worked must appear too for anyone paid hourly or on a salary below the federal exempt threshold. Keep those records for three years. After an increase, the paystub is what proves the new rate was applied on the right date.
Virginia Against the Federal Floor
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has not moved since 2009. Virginia sits $5.52 above it today and will sit $7.75 above it once the $15.00 step lands. The statute settles any conflict in one line: employers pay the greater of the state rate or the federal rate.
In practice the federal number matters in Virginia only for workers the state act excludes, where federal coverage becomes the operative floor. For the wider picture of how states move relative to $7.25, see our roundup of state minimum wage increases.
What to Do Each Time the Rate Rises
Treat every January 1 as a small project with a December deadline. The work is not complicated, but it touches payroll, tipped math, offer letters and the break room wall, and skipping any one of them is how an owner ends up making the call I described at the top of this page.
Overtime moves with the base rate as well, because the regular rate of pay is the starting point for the premium. If most of your crew sits at or near the floor, model the overtime cost alongside the base increase rather than after it, using the approach in our guide to overtime pay.
What Underpayment Costs
The fine written into the Virginia Minimum Wage Act is trivial, between $10 and $200 for a knowing and intentional violation. The real exposure is the civil claim, because Va. Code section 40.1-28.12 sends minimum wage cases into the remedies in Va. Code section 40.1-29.
Under those remedies an employee can sue alone, jointly, or as a collective action on behalf of similarly situated workers. A court that finds unpaid wages must award the wages, an equal amount again as liquidated damages, prejudgment interest at 8 percent and reasonable attorney fees. Where the failure to pay was knowing, the award is triple the wages due, and claims reach back three years.
Employees can also file a wage complaint with the Department of Labor and Industry rather than going to court, and the Commissioner has authority to investigate, subpoena records and issue orders. If you are hiring your first employees in the Commonwealth, the sequence is laid out in our guide on how to hire employees in Virginia.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum wage in Virginia right now?
The Virginia minimum wage is $12.77 per hour. That rate took effect on January 1, 2026 and stays in place until January 1, 2027 under Va. Code section 40.1-28.10(B). It came from the annual inflation adjustment that the Commissioner of Labor and Industry announced on July 29, 2025: the 2025 rate of $12.41 plus the 2.9 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers. Legislation enacted in 2026 then wrote $12.77 directly into the statute along with the two increases that follow it. The rate covers full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary employees alike. Where a worker is covered by both Virginia and federal law, the employer pays whichever rate is higher, and in Virginia that is the state rate.
When does the Virginia minimum wage go up again?
Two increases are already law. The rate goes to $13.75 per hour on January 1, 2027 and to $15.00 per hour on January 1, 2028. Governor Spanberger signed the bills on April 9, 2026, and the amounts sit in Va. Code section 40.1-28.10(C) and (D). Nothing has to be announced first, because these are fixed numbers rather than inflation adjustments. Annual indexing returns after that: the Commissioner of Labor and Industry sets the adjusted rate for 2029 by October 1, 2028, then every year after, using the increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers. The annual adjustment can never be less than zero, so the rate does not fall when inflation is flat.
Can Virginia employers take a tip credit?
Yes. Virginia counts tips toward the minimum wage, so a tipped employee can be paid a cash wage of $2.13 per hour as long as tips bring total earnings to at least the Virginia rate. The Department of Labor and Industry states this directly: the $2.13 cash wage comes from the Fair Labor Standards Act, and total earnings must meet the Virginia minimum. At $12.77 that means a maximum tip credit of $10.64 per hour, and the employer owes the shortfall in any week when tips fall short. Va. Code section 40.1-28.9 defines a tipped employee as one who customarily receives more than $30 a month in tips, lets the employer set the credited amount, and lets the employee challenge that amount with clear and convincing evidence. Nobody barred by law from soliciting tips may be classified as tipped.
Do any Virginia cities have their own minimum wage?
No. There is one wage floor across Virginia and no city or county sets a separate rate for private employers. That is unusual compared with states like California or Washington, and it removes a whole category of payroll complexity for employers with several locations in the Commonwealth. Two contract-based exceptions are worth knowing. Localities may impose a living wage on companies that provide services under their own contracts, which is why Alexandria requires service contractors working on city-controlled property to pay a posted living wage. Separately, public works contracts for state agencies and localities carry prevailing wage rates set by the Commissioner under Va. Code section 2.2-4321.3, and those rates run well above $12.77. Employees who physically work in Washington DC follow DC wage law instead.
Which Virginia workers are exempt from the state minimum wage?
The Virginia Minimum Wage Act excludes a specific list of workers from the definition of employee in Va. Code section 40.1-28.9. It covers anyone under 16, a person under 18 working for a parent or legal guardian, full-time students under 18 working 20 hours a week or less, work-study students, students in a bona fide educational program, babysitters working fewer than 10 hours a week, golf caddies, taxicab drivers, outside salespeople paid on commission, summer camp staff, au pairs, temporary foreign workers, and people exempt from the federal minimum wage under 29 U.S.C. section 213(a)(3). Farm laborers are on that list only until January 1, 2027, when the agricultural exemption ends. Being outside the state act does not mean being outside federal law: the federal minimum wage still applies to covered work.
Does Virginia require a minimum wage poster?
No. The Department of Labor and Industry lists the Virginia Minimum Wage Notice under optional state posters, not required ones, and publishes a new version in English and Spanish each year. What is mandatory is the federal Fair Labor Standards Act poster, WH Publication 1088, which every covered employer must display. Posting the optional state notice is still worth doing, because it is the cheapest way to show that employees were told the current rate. Virginia does have a hard paperwork rule elsewhere: Va. Code section 40.1-29 requires a paystub or online statement each payday showing the rate of pay, gross wages and every deduction, with hours worked included for hourly staff, kept for three years. After a rate change, that statement is the record that proves you applied the new rate on time.
What happens if a Virginia employer pays below the minimum wage?
The criminal fine in the Virginia Minimum Wage Act is small, between $10 and $200 for a knowing and intentional violation, but that number is not the real exposure. Va. Code section 40.1-28.12 routes minimum wage claims into the remedies in Va. Code section 40.1-29(K). An underpaid employee can sue individually, jointly, or as a collective action, and the court must award the unpaid wages, an equal amount again as liquidated damages, prejudgment interest at 8 percent, plus attorney fees and costs. If the court finds the employer knowingly failed to pay, the award is triple the wages due. Claims run for three years. In practice a modest per-hour shortfall across a small crew turns into a five-figure judgment once damages, interest and fees are added.