The current minimum wage in Delaware is 15.00 dollars per hour for most non‑tipped workers, effective from January 1, 2025 and still in effect in early 2026.

Quick Scoop: Delaware Minimum Wage (2026)

  • Standard minimum wage: 15.00 dollars/hour statewide (same in Wilmington, Dover, Newark, beach towns, etc.).
  • Tipped employees: employers can pay a cash wage of 2.23–2.33 dollars/hour (sources differ slightly), but tips plus wages must reach at least 15.00 dollars/hour or the employer must make up the difference.
  • No higher local city minimums: Delaware uses one uniform state rate; cities do not set their own higher or lower minimum wage.
  • Legal basis: Delaware law sets “not less than 15.00 dollars per hour” as the state minimum starting January 1, 2025, and that level continues unless the federal minimum surpasses it.

How We Got to 15 Dollars

  • Delaware used to track close to the federal minimum (7.25 dollars) but began step‑up increases after a 2021 law.
  • Rates moved from 11.75 dollars (2023) to 13.25 dollars (2024), then to 15.00 dollars in 2025 as the final planned step.
  • By January 2026, economic data series list Delaware’s state minimum wage at 15.00 dollars/hour.

What This Means If You Work in Delaware

  • If you are an hourly, non‑exempt worker, your base rate should generally be at least 15.00 dollars/hour.
  • If you are tipped (restaurants, bars, etc.), your combined tips plus the cash wage must average at least 15.00 dollars/hour over the pay period; if not, your employer must make up the shortfall.
  • Overtime rules still apply: most workers must be paid at least 1.5× their regular rate for hours over 40 per week.

Always check your actual pay stub and, if something looks off, you can compare your hourly rate to the 15.00 dollars minimum and ask your employer or a local labor office for clarification.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.