Denver Minimum Wage 2026: $19.29, Tipped $16.27, and Who It Covers

§1Denver's 2026 rates at a glance

Denver's local minimum wage for 2026 is $19.29 per hour, in effect from January 1 through December 31, 2026, according to Denver Labor, the division of the Denver Auditor's Office that enforces it (Denver Labor: Citywide Minimum Wage). On January 1, 2027 it rises to $19.84 per hour. After that, the ordinance ties each year's increase to the prior year's change in the regional consumer price index.

For tipped workers in the food and beverage industry, the 2026 floor is $16.27 per hour, as long as the worker receives at least $3.02 an hour in documented tips. That $3.02 is the maximum tip credit an employer can claim.

The 2025 figures and the 2026 tipped rate come from the Department of Finance announcement of August 7, 2025 (Denver Department of Finance news release). The statewide 2026 figures are those the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment lists on its home page (CDLE). Denver's rate is higher, so employers with work inside Denver pay the Denver rate.

§2How the $19.29 was calculated

The Denver City Council created Denver Revised Municipal Code Chapter 58-16 in November 2019. It set the local minimum wage and requires annual adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

Timing drives the method. The Finance release explains that Colorado state law requires local minimum wage changes to take effect on January 1, the same date the statewide wage adjusts, so Denver needs a CPI figure that is available by the middle of the prior year. Denver adopted the State of Colorado's approach: compare the first half of the prior year with the first half of the current year. For 2026, Finance compared the first half of 2025 with the first half of 2024.

That comparison produced a CPI-W change of 2.56% for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area, which was smaller than the 2.84% used for 2025 and the 5.8% used for 2024. Applied to the 2025 wage of $18.81, it gave the 2026 rate of $19.29. For payroll teams, the useful takeaway is that the next year's figure is normally public by late summer, months before it takes effect, so there is time to update pay rates before the first January payroll.

§3Planning for the 2027 increase

The 2027 rate of $19.84 is already published, which gives employers a full budget cycle to plan. The step from $19.29 to $19.84 is 55 cents an hour. For one full-time employee at 40 hours a week for 52 weeks (2,080 hours), that is $1,144 more in annual base pay, before payroll taxes and any raises you give to keep differentials between pay grades.

The second point is easy to miss. If a shift lead earns $1.50 above an entry-level hire paid the minimum, holding the gap means raising the lead too. Run the numbers for every role within a dollar or two of the floor, not only for staff paid exactly the minimum.

Denver Labor also offers a minimum wage calculator for employees. It notes that the totals it produces are gross, pre-tax and pre-deduction earnings, and that some exceptions may let an employer pay less, with employers of tipped staff only able to reduce hourly wages for actual tips received.

Is Denver's rate unusually high? Denver Labor answers that question on its own page: no, Denver is among several dozen cities nationwide with minimum wages above $17 per hour, and in 2023 some peer cities were already above $18.

§4Who the Denver minimum wage covers

Coverage depends on where the work happens, not where the employer is based. Denver Labor says the minimum wage applies to all workers performing work within the geographical boundaries of the City and County of Denver.

There are three exclusions. The local wage does not apply to work performed outside Denver, to an employee who works less than 4 hours within Denver in a week, or to an employee who is only traveling through Denver while working. A delivery driver who spends part of a shift in Denver therefore needs a closer look than an office worker whose desk is downtown.

Mailing addresses cause many mistakes near the city line. In the Finance release, Auditor Timothy O'Brien warns that employers unsure whether to pay Denver's rate because of a workplace's mailing address "should not make the wrong assumption," and points them to the regional address finder on the Denver Labor website to check whether work was performed inside the City and County of Denver.

Immigration status does not change coverage. Denver Labor states that all workers in the City and County of Denver are protected by its wage ordinances regardless of immigration status and that it will not ask about a worker's country of origin or immigration status during an investigation.

§5Tipped workers: the $3.02 credit and its limits

The tip credit is narrower than many employers assume. Denver Labor says an employer can reduce its minimum wage obligation for actual tips received, up to $3.02 an hour, only in the food and beverage industry. The Finance release adds that the tip credit does not apply to workers in other industries, even if they sometimes receive tips. A salon or a car wash that sees tips still owes the full $19.29.

The credit also depends on proof. Employers may claim it if they have documentation showing the employee received at least that amount in tips, and during an investigation an employer may be asked to produce evidence that tips equaled or exceeded the credit taken. If tips fall short in a given pay period, the credit shrinks to the tips actually received, and the employer has to make up the difference.

Here is the arithmetic for a server who works 30 hours in a week in Denver. At the full credit, the employer pays at least $16.27 times 30, or $488.10, in cash wages, and the server's documented tips must be at least $3.02 times 30, or $90.60. If documented tips for that week were only $60, the employer could credit only $60, so cash wages would need to be at least $19.29 times 30, or $578.70, minus $60, which is $518.70.

§6The youth program exception

Denver allows one other reduced rate. Employers of unemancipated minors performing work under a city-certified youth employment program may pay those minors 15% less than the minimum wage. In 2026 that works out to about $16.40 an hour (85% of $19.29, rounded to the cent).

Note the conditions. The exception is limited to unemancipated minors and to a city-certified program. It does not cover every teenage employee, and it is separate from the food and beverage tip credit. Before applying the lower rate, confirm in writing that the program your young workers come through is city-certified, and keep that confirmation with the payroll records you already have to retain for three years.

§7What employers must keep and what happens if they don't

Compliance itself is simple on paper. Denver Labor says employers must pay employees the appropriate wage and keep payroll records for three years, with no additional reporting requirement.

Complaints may be submitted by any person or entity, including anonymously, by email to wagecomplaints@denvergov.org or by phone at 720-913-5039. The Auditor's Office may also open an investigation based on an employer's pattern of violations or credible government data, and since 2022 Denver Labor has used data to start proactive investigations in industries where workers are at highest risk of underpayment, including onsite visits.

Penalties escalate. For a first violation, the Auditor may impose a fine of as much as $50 a day for each underpaid employee, unless the error was made in good faith and corrected within 30 days. For a second and third violation in a three-year period, the Auditor must impose a fine of $1,000 to $2,500 plus $10 to $75 a day for each underpaid employee. After the third violation in three years, the fine is $2,500 to $5,000 plus $50 to $100 a day for each underpaid employee. Failing to submit certified payroll records, or submitting false ones, carries a $1,000 fine.

Retaliation is a separate violation. Employers may not take adverse action against an employee for their involvement in an investigation; Denver Labor says such conduct is unlawful and subject to a $5,000 fine. When an investigation finds underpayment, the investigator seeks restitution for the employee, and the employer must give the Auditor's Office evidence that it paid.

If you run payroll in more than one state, our 2026 state minimum wage and payroll tax reference collects statewide floors in one place.

§8Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum wage in Denver in 2026?
$19.29 an hour for all of 2026; the 2027 figure is $19.84.
Source: Denver Labor.

What is Denver's tipped minimum wage?
$16.27 an hour, and only in food and beverage, provided documented tips cover the $3.02 gap.
Source: Denver Finance, Aug. 7, 2025.

Is Denver's minimum wage higher than Colorado's?
Yes. The 2026 statewide figure is $15.16 ($12.14 tipped), below Denver's local rate.
Source: CDLE home page.

Does Denver's rate apply to remote or traveling workers?
Not when someone only passes through the city while working, or logs fewer than four hours a week there.
Source: Denver Labor exclusions.

How do I report unpaid minimum wage in Denver?
Email or call Denver Labor; anonymous complaints are accepted.
Source: Denver Labor complaints section.