Iowa Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 Per Hour, Tips and Local Limits

1. a. The state hourly wage shall be at least $6.20 as of April 1, 2007, and $7.25 as of January 1, 2008. b. Every employer, as defined in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended to January 1, 2007, shall pay to each of the employer’s employees, as defined in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended to January 1, 2007, the state hourly wage stated in paragraph “a”, or the current federal minimum wage, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §206, as amended, whichever is greater. c. For purposes of determining whether an employee of a restaurant, hotel, motel, inn, or cabin, who customarily and regularly receives more than thirty dollars a month in tips is receiving the minimum hourly wage rate prescribed by this section, the amount paid the employee by the employer shall be deemed to be increased on account of the tips by an amount determined by the employer, not to exceed forty percent of the applicable minimum wage. An employee may file a written appeal with the director of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing if the amount of tips received by the employee is less than the amount determined by the employer under this subsection. d.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legis.iowa.gov

The following are limitations upon the powers of a city: 1. A city council shall exercise a power only by the passage of a motion, a resolution, an amendment, or an ordinance. 2. For a violation of an ordinance a city shall not provide a penalty in excess of the maximum fine and term of imprisonment for a simple misdemeanor under section 903.1, subsection 1, paragraph “a”. An amount equal to twenty percent of all fines collected by cities shall be deposited in the account established in section 602.8108. However, one hundred percent of all fines collected by a city pursuant to section 321.236, subsection 1, shall be retained by the city. The crime services surcharge required by section 911.1 shall be added to a city fine and is not a part of the city’s penalty. 3. a. A city may not set standards and requirements which are lower or less stringent than those imposed by state law, but may set standards and requirements which are higher or more stringent than those imposed by state law, unless a state law provides otherwise. b.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legis.iowa.gov

If a county proposes to exercise any of the following powers, it shall do so in accordance with the following limitations: 1. The power to act jointly with other political subdivisions or public or private agencies shall be exercised in accordance with chapter 28E or 28I or other applicable state law. 2. The power to adopt, administer, and enforce the state building code shall be exercised in accordance with chapter 103A. The power to adopt by ordinance, administer, and enforce a county building code, is subject to the following restrictions: a. A county building code shall not apply within the incorporated area of a city except at the option of the city, and shall not apply within a city’s two-mile limit referred to in section 414.23, to the extent that the city has adopted a building code within the two-mile limit. b. A county building code shall not apply to farm houses or other farm buildings which are primarily adapted for use for agricultural purposes, while so used or under construction for that use. 3. A county shall not license elevator inspectors or regulate elevator conveyances except as provided in section 89A.15. 4.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legis.iowa.gov

When it has been shown that an employer has intentionally failed to pay an employee wages or reimburse expenses pursuant to section 91A.3, whether as the result of a wage dispute or otherwise, the employer shall be liable to the employee for any wages or expenses that are so intentionally failed to be paid or reimbursed, plus liquidated damages, court costs and any attorney’s fees incurred in recovering the unpaid wages and determined to have been usual and necessary. In other instances the employer shall be liable only for unpaid wages or expenses, court costs and usual and necessary attorney’s fees incurred in recovering the unpaid wages or expenses.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legis.iowa.gov

Also relied on in: Iowa Final Paycheck Laws: Deadline, Penalties, Deductions

1. Upon the written complaint of the employee involved, the director may determine whether wages have not been paid and may constitute an enforceable claim. If for any reason the director decides not to make such determination, the director shall so notify the complaining employee within fourteen days of receipt of the complaint. The director shall otherwise notify the employee of such determination within a reasonable time and if it is determined that there is an enforceable claim, the director shall, with the consent of the complaining employee, take an assignment in trust for the wages and for any claim for liquidated damages without being bound by any of the technical rules respecting the validity of the assignment. However, the director shall not accept any complaint for unpaid wages and liquidated damages after one year from the date the wages became due and payable. 2.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legis.iowa.gov

Also relied on in: Iowa Whistleblower Laws: Protections and How to Report

Actions may be brought within the times limited as follows, respectively, after their causes accrue, and not afterwards, except when otherwise specially declared: 1. Penalties or forfeitures under ordinance. Those to enforce the payment of a penalty or forfeiture under an ordinance, within one year. 2. Injuries to person or reputation — relative rights — statute penalty. Those founded on injuries to the person or reputation, including injuries to relative rights, whether based on contract or tort, or for a statute penalty, within two years. 2A. With respect to products. a.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-08 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legis.iowa.gov

Also relied on in: Iowa Dog Bite Laws: Liability and Victim Rights, Iowa Defamation Laws: Libel, Slander & Suing (2026), Motorcycle Accident Laws in Iowa (2026): Deadlines & Helmets

In chapter 10A, subchapter III, this chapter, and chapter 87, unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions of terms shall prevail: 1. “Alteration” means a material change to a permanent prosthetic device that is necessary due to an employee’s injury, without which would not allow the injured employee use of the prosthetic device as effectively as prior to the injury. 2. The word “court” means the district court. 3. “Employer” includes and applies to the following: a. A person, firm, association, or corporation, state, county, municipal corporation, school corporation, area education agency, township as an employer of volunteer fire fighters and emergency medical care providers only, benefited fire district, and the legal representatives of a deceased employer. b. A rehabilitation facility approved for purchase-of-service contracts or for referrals by the department of health and human services or the department of education. c.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legis.iowa.gov

As used in this chapter— “Person” means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons. “Commerce” means trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States or between any State and any place outside thereof. “State” means any State of the United States or the District of Columbia or any Territory or possession of the United States. “Employer” includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and includes a public agency, but does not include any labor organization (other than when acting as an employer) or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization. Except as provided in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), the term “employee” means any individual employed by an employer.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Federal Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 an Hour Since 2009, Minimum Wage by State 2026: All 50 States and DC, Alabama Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 Federal, No State Rate

Every employer shall pay to each of his employees who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, wages at the following rates: except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than— $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after May 25, 2007; $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day; if such employee is a home worker in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, not less than the minimum piece rate prescribed by regulation or order; or, if no such minimum piece rate is in effect, any piece rate adopted by such employer which shall yield, to the proportion or class of employees prescribed by regulation or order, not less than the applicable minimum hourly wage rate. Such minimum piece rates or employer piece rates shall be commensurate with, and shall be paid in lieu of, the minimum hourly wage rate applicable under the provisions of this section.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Ohio Debt Collection Laws: Garnishment Formula, the 6-Year Consumer Debt Rule, and Repossession, South Dakota Debt Collection Laws: The 20% Garnishment Cap and 120-Day Lien, Wage Theft in the U.S.: Your Rights Regardless of Immigration Status

After the expiration of one hundred and twenty days from June 25, 1938, it shall be unlawful for any person— to transport, offer for transportation, ship, deliver, or sell in commerce, or to ship, deliver, or sell with knowledge that shipment or delivery or sale thereof in commerce is intended, any goods in the production of which any employee was employed in violation of section 206 or section 207 of this title, or in violation of any regulation or order of the Secretary issued under section 214 of this title; except that no provision of this chapter shall impose any liability upon any common carrier for the transportation in commerce in the regular course of its business of any goods not produced by such common carrier, and no provision of this chapter shall excuse any common carrier from its obligation to accept any goods for transportation; and except that any such transportation, offer, shipment, delivery, or sale of such goods by a purchaser who acquired them in good faith in reliance on written assurance from the producer that the goods were produced in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, and who acquired such goods for value without notice of any such…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Federal Whistleblower Laws: Protections and How to Report, Employer Threatening to Call Immigration? Your Rights in the U.S., Connecticut Minimum Wage 2026: $16.94 an Hour ($17.48 in 2027)

Any person who willfully violates any of the provisions of section 215 of this title shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or to imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. No person shall be imprisoned under this subsection except for an offense committed after the conviction of such person for a prior offense under this subsection. Any employer who violates the provisions of section 206 or section 207 of this title shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages, or their unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Any employer who violates the provisions of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title shall be liable for such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to effectuate the purposes of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title, including without limitation employment, reinstatement, promotion, and the payment of wages lost and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-03 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Unpaid Wages: How to File a Claim and Recover What You're Owed, Independent Contractor vs. Employee: The IRS, DOL and ABC Tests, Alaska Minimum Wage 2026: $14.00 an Hour, $15.00 in July 2027

No provision of this chapter or of any order thereunder shall excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum wage established under this chapter or a maximum work week lower than the maximum workweek established under this chapter, and no provision of this chapter relating to the employment of child labor shall justify noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a higher standard than the standard established under this chapter. No provision of this chapter shall justify any employer in reducing a wage paid by him which is in excess of the applicable minimum wage under this chapter, or justify any employer in increasing hours of employment maintained by him which are shorter than the maximum hours applicable under this chapter.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Arizona Minimum Wage 2026: $15.15 Per Hour, $15.65 in 2027, Arkansas Minimum Wage 2026: $11.00 an Hour, Tip Credit Rules, California Minimum Wage 2026: $16.90 an Hour, $17.40 in 2027

Any action commenced on or after May 14, 1947, to enforce any cause of action for unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act 1  See References in Text note below.  — if the cause of action accrues on or after May 14, 1947 —may be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, and every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, except that a cause of action arising out of a willful violation may be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued; if the cause of action accrued prior to May 14, 1947 —may be commenced within whichever of the following periods is the shorter: (1) two years after the cause of action accrued, or (2) the period prescribed by the applicable State statute of limitations; and, except as provided in paragraph (c), every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within the shorter of such two periods; if the cause of action accrued prior to May 14, 1947, the action shall not be barred by paragraph (b)…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Colorado Minimum Wage 2026: $15.16, $15.71 in 2027, Georgia Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 Federal, $5.15 State Rate, Hawaii Minimum Wage 2026: $16.00 an Hour, Next Step $18.00 in 2028