As of 2026, Kansas's state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour for covered, non-exempt employees, the same as the federal minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Kansas raised its rate from $2.65 to $7.25 effective January 1, 2010, to match the federal floor, and the Kansas figure has not changed since. Kansas's minimum wage is set by statute (the Kansas Minimum Wage and Maximum Hours Law, K.S.A. 44-1201 and following) and is not adjusted automatically for inflation, so it stays at $7.25 until the Legislature votes to change it. Because the state and federal rates are identical, almost every Kansas worker is entitled to at least $7.25 an hour. Before relying on any number, confirm the current rate with the Kansas Department of Labor, because rates can be amended at any legislative session.
How the Kansas minimum wage works
Two separate minimum wage laws can apply to a Kansas job: the federal FLSA and the Kansas Minimum Wage and Maximum Hours Law. The FLSA covers most employers engaged in interstate commerce or with at least $500,000 in annual sales, plus many individual employees who handle goods or communications that cross state lines. The Kansas law is designed mainly to cover the smaller pool of employers and workers who are not subject to the FLSA.
When both laws apply, the worker is entitled to whichever standard is more protective. Since Kansas and the federal government both set the floor at $7.25, the practical result is the same either way: covered employees must earn at least $7.25 for every hour worked. An employer cannot pay less by claiming it follows only the state law, because the state rate is not lower than the federal rate.
One important difference involves overtime. Under the FLSA, most non-exempt employees earn time-and-a-half for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. The Kansas state law, by contrast, requires overtime only after 46 hours in a week, and it applies only to employees who are not already covered by the FLSA. Most Kansas employees are covered by the FLSA, so the 40-hour federal overtime rule is what usually governs. The 46-hour Kansas rule matters mainly for the narrow set of workers who fall outside federal coverage.
Tipped employees and the tip credit
Kansas allows employers to count a portion of an employee's tips toward the minimum wage, a practice known as taking a tip credit. Under both the FLSA and Kansas law, a tipped employee can be paid a lower direct cash wage as long as tips make up the difference to reach $7.25 per hour.
- Cash wage: The minimum direct cash wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour under federal law, and Kansas follows the same federal tip-credit framework.
- Maximum tip credit: The employer may claim up to $5.12 per hour in tips ($7.25 minus $2.13) toward the minimum wage.
- The guarantee: If an employee's tips plus the $2.13 cash wage do not add up to at least $7.25 for every hour in the pay period, the employer must pay the shortfall. The combined total can never legally fall below the full minimum wage.
A tipped employee generally means someone who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips, such as servers, bartenders, and some delivery and hospitality workers. Employers must inform tipped staff before using the tip credit, and tips remain the property of the employee. Mandatory tip pooling is permitted only among employees who customarily receive tips; managers, supervisors, and owners may not keep employees' tips. Because tipped-wage rules are heavily governed by the FLSA, tipped workers in Kansas should treat federal Department of Labor guidance as the controlling source and verify any state-specific detail with the Kansas Department of Labor.
Scheduled increases and inflation indexing
Kansas does not index its minimum wage to inflation and has no statutory schedule of future increases. Unlike states such as Colorado or Washington that raise their rates annually using a cost-of-living formula, Kansas keeps the rate fixed at $7.25 until lawmakers pass a new figure. This means the Kansas minimum wage can only rise in one of two ways: the Kansas Legislature amends the state statute, or Congress raises the federal FLSA minimum (which would then apply to most Kansas workers regardless of the state number). As long as the federal rate stays at $7.25, that remains the effective floor across the state.