Denver minimum wage in 2026

Denver's 2026 rates at a glance

2026 rate

$19.29an hour, all employer sizes

Tipped cash wage

$16.27$3.02 tip credit

Effective

Jan 1, 2026CDLE INFO #19

2027 rate

$19.84announced by Denver, per CDLE

Denver does not split its rate by employer size. A food truck with two staff and a hospital system both owe $19.29. Four Colorado local governments set their own minimums for 2026, and Denver's is the highest:

Who earns the Denver rate

What counts is where the hours are worked. An Aurora landscaping company that sends a crew to a Denver park for a day owes $19.29 for those hours, then the state's $15.16 when the crew is back in Aurora. A Denver-based firm with a remote employee in Colorado Springs owes the state rate for that person. Keep hours by job site so you can show which hours were worked outside the city.

Overtime in Colorado is 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours a week or 12 hours in a day, so a Denver worker on a 13-hour shift is owed time and a half for the 13th hour: 1.5 x $19.29 = $28.935, or $28.94 once rounded to the cent.

Tipped pay in Denver

Colorado keeps a fixed $3.02 tip credit, and Denver applies it to the city rate, so the cash floor for a Denver server or bartender is $16.27 an hour. Tips must bring the worker to at least $19.29 for every hour worked; when they do not, the employer makes up the difference. Compared with New York City, where the food service cash wage is $11.35, a Denver restaurant pays $4.92 more per server hour before tips. Under the federal tipped rules the cash wage is only $2.13.

Denver's 2027 rate: $19.84

Denver has set its 2027 minimum wage at $19.84 an hour, $0.55 more than in 2026, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's August 13, 2026 release, which reports the city's announcement. The same release puts the 2027 state rate at $15.71, with a $12.69 tipped wage, up $0.55 or 3.6% from $15.16. Both rise by $0.55, so Denver stays exactly $4.13 above the state. The release does not give the date either 2027 rate takes effect; the 2026 rates took effect January 1, 2026.

Full time, $19.84 is $41,267.20 a year, $1,144.00 more than in 2026. Denver has not published its 2027 tipped cash wage on a page we could read. Statewide rules and other local rates are on the Colorado minimum wage page. To compare Denver with other big cities, Seattle pays $21.30 and Los Angeles $18.42 from July 1, 2026; the state-by-state table covers the rest.

Full cost of a Denver minimum wage employee

At $19.29 for 2,080 hours, pay is $771.60 a week, $3,343.60 a month and $40,123.20 a year. A new employer adds:

• FICA: 7.65% of $40,123.20 = $3,069.42.
• FUTA: 0.6% of the first $7,000 = $42.00.
• Colorado unemployment: 3.05% combined new employer rate on the first $30,600 = $933.30.
• FAMLI: the employer half of the 0.88% premium, 0.44% = $176.54.
• Denver Occupational Privilege Tax, employer part: $4.00 a month for each employee who earns $500 or more that month for Denver work = $48.00 a year.

That is $4,269.26 on top of wages, or $44,392.46 a year, before workers comp. You also withhold the employee's share of the head tax, $5.75 a month ($69.00 a year), and their 0.44% FAMLI share. The OPT details are in the Denver Occupational Privilege Tax guide, and state registration is in the Colorado payroll tax guide.

Payroll for Denver employers

Denver adds two jobs that statewide payroll setups miss: the higher city rate for hours worked in Denver, and the monthly OPT on both sides. Choose software that tags each shift with a location and supports local taxes. Gusto Simple lists $49 a month plus $6 per person (checked October 16, 2026). Compare it in our payroll software rankings and see full-team totals in what payroll costs.

Model a different wage or schedule in the employee cost calculator.