Delaware minimum wage in 2026 (and 2027)

Who earns Delaware's $15.00

The DOL state summary shows Delaware's $15.00 rate with no small-employer carve-out. Delaware's Division of Industrial Affairs confirms the rate and lists $15.00 as of January 1, 2025.

Tipped employees are the exception in cash terms. Delaware's cash wage for tipped workers is $2.23 an hour, and tips have to carry the worker the rest of the way to $15.00. That is a tip credit of up to $12.77 an hour, so a slow lunch shift can leave the employer owing a top-up. Overtime is 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek under federal law.

Weekly, monthly and yearly pay

At $15.00 an hour:

• 40 hours: $600.00 a week
• 2,080 hours (52 weeks): $31,200.00 a year
• One twelfth of a year: $2,600.00 a month

Delaware sits level with Maryland's minimum wage of $15.00, below New Jersey at $15.92 for most employers, and far above Pennsylvania, which still pays the federal $7.25.

Delaware Paid Leave changes the math

Delaware Paid Leave contributions began January 1, 2025 and benefits began January 1, 2026. The premium is 0.8% of wages in total: 0.4% medical, 0.32% parental and 0.08% family caregiving. What you owe depends on headcount:

• Fewer than 10 Delaware employees: exempt.
• 10 to 24: parental leave only, 0.32%.
• 25 or more: all three parts, 0.8%.

Employers may require employees to pay up to half. On a $31,200.00 wage, the full 0.8% is $249.60 a year; split evenly, the employer's half is $124.80. For a 10 to 24 employee business, 0.32% is $99.84. Benefits pay 80% of wages up to $900 a week.

Total employer cost for a $15.00 worker

A new Delaware employer with 25 or more workers, splitting the paid leave premium, pays on one full-time minimum wage employee:

• FICA, 7.65%: $2,386.80
• FUTA, 0.6% on $7,000: $42.00
• Delaware unemployment, new employer 1.0% on the $14,500 wage base: $145.00
• Delaware Paid Leave, employer half of 0.8%: $124.80

Total $2,698.60 on top of $31,200.00, or $33,898.60. A business under 10 employees skips the paid leave line and pays $2,573.80. The City of Wilmington also levies a wage tax we have not verified for 2026, so check it if your staff work there. Registration, withholding and unemployment details are on Delaware payroll taxes, and our SUTA table shows how the 1.0% new employer rate compares.

Getting Delaware payroll right

The two things to set up correctly are the paid leave tier for your headcount and the tip top-up for anyone on the $2.23 cash wage. A payroll service tracks both each pay run. Gusto's Simple plan is $49 a month plus $6 per person (checked October 16, 2026). See which payroll providers we rank highest and model your own team with the employee cost calculator.