Mississippi minimum wage in 2026 (and 2027)

How federal coverage reaches Mississippi employers

Since the Mississippi Legislature has never passed a wage floor, Mississippi employers answer to the FLSA. DOL Fact Sheet #14 describes two separate routes into coverage:

• The business test: an enterprise with two or more employees and annual sales or business of $500,000 or more, or any hospital, residential care facility, school, preschool or government agency.
• The worker test: an employee whose regular duties involve commerce between states is covered even at a very small firm. DOL's examples include regular phone calls to other states, keeping records of interstate transactions, travel across state lines and janitorial work in plants that ship goods out of state.

A Gulfport shop selling to Alabama customers, or a Delta supplier trucking to Memphis, passes the worker test without coming close to $500,000. In practice, treat $7.25 as the floor.

Lower rates the federal law allows

Federal law permits cash pay under $7.25 in two situations, and it adds one rule employers often miss:

1. Tip credit: servers, bartenders and similar staff who usually receive over $30 a month in tips can be paid $2.13 cash, with tips counting for as much as $5.12. Each workweek, cash plus tips has to hit $7.25.
2. Opportunity wage: employees younger than 20 may earn $4.25 for their first 90 days on the job.
3. Overtime: over 40 hours in a week, non-exempt staff earn 1.5 times their regular rate, which is $10.875 at minimum wage. See which jobs are exempt from overtime.

Weekly, monthly and annual pay at $7.25

Full-time Mississippi minimum wage pay totals $15,080.00 a year (2,080 hours), $1,256.67 a month and $290.00 a week. Many hourly roles in Mississippi run part time; a 30-hour schedule earns $217.50 weekly and $11,310.00 across 52 weeks.

Payroll tax on top of a Mississippi minimum wage

Taxes add 8.9% to wages. If your assigned rate later changes, or you pay above the minimum, rerun the numbers in the employee cost calculator; for the price of the payroll service itself, see payroll service costs.

2027 and the states around Mississippi

Without a state statute, Mississippi's floor can only move if Congress moves the federal rate, and nothing is pending for 2027. Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee share the no-law setup, while Arkansas pays $11.00 at employers of 4 or more. Compare all states in the national minimum wage table.

Payroll for Mississippi hourly teams

Open state withholding and unemployment accounts and report each new hire; the agency links are on our Mississippi payroll tax page. A five-person team on Gusto's Simple plan would pay $49 plus 5 x $6, or $79 a month, at prices checked October 16, 2026. Our payroll software rankings score the cheaper and fuller alternatives.