Colorado Minimum Wage Calculator
Colorado’s 2026 statewide floor is $15.16 per hour, producing $606.40 gross for an ordinary 40-hour week. Denver, Edgewater, the City of Boulder, and unincorporated Boulder County have higher local rates. Edgewater also has a different tipped-wage credit.
Time card Calculate pay for a covered hourly job
Weekly gross including tips—
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- Hourly floor—
- Per workday—
- Weekly gross—
- Monthly average—
- Yearly gross—
- Employer cash before shortfall
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- Weekly tips retained
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- Employer shortfall payment
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- Total employer cash
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Overtime uses the full regular rate before subtracting a permitted tip credit. The employer must cover a weekly tip shortfall within the selected scope. This floor scenario does not calculate pay at a higher agreed rate. Per-workday pay divides the week by the days with hours. Annual figures repeat the rounded weekly result.
Reviewed rate period: 2026-02-01 through 2027-12-31. Gross earnings before taxes or deductions. Annual figures repeat this weekly scenario; they do not combine different rate periods.
Reviewed October 2, 2026. State rates: 2026 PAY CALC order. This calculator starts February 1, 2026 and retains the stated overtime structure through the reviewed December 2027 horizon under adopted COMPS Order #40.
Verified 2027 local handoffs
CDLE’s August 2026 announcement sets the 2027 state minimum at $15.71 and eligible tipped cash at $12.69. Denver Labor publishes $19.84 for January 1, 2027, retaining the eligible food-and-beverage $3.02 tip credit. Boulder city’s enacted schedule reaches $18.17, with its current $3.02 offset. Boulder County’s page marks later figures as estimates; its actual next indexed rate must be verified. Where an applicable new full or tipped figure has not been independently reconciled, the form requires that actual published amount.
2026 Colorado state and local wage comparison
| Confirmed jurisdiction | Hourly floor | Eligible tipped cash floor | 40-hour full-cash gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado statewide floor, no higher local rate | $15.16 | $12.14 | $606.40 |
| Covered work in City and County of Denver | $19.29 | $16.27 | $771.60 |
| Covered work in Edgewater | $18.17 | $13.50 | $726.80 |
| Covered work in City of Boulder | $16.82 | $13.80 | $672.80 |
| Covered work in unincorporated Boulder County | $16.82 | $13.80 | $672.80 |
The tipped column assumes the applicable industry, occupation, notice, records and tip-retention requirements are met. Local food-and-beverage restrictions matter; receiving tips does not automatically authorize the local credit.
Denver: check the boundary and four-hour threshold
Denver’s 2026 minimum is $19.29. Its $3.02 credit is limited to eligible tipped food-and-beverage workers, leaving $16.27 cash when documented tips cover the credit. The city lists exclusions for fewer than four hours of work in Denver during a week and merely traveling through the city. Use Denver’s address-finder map to establish the work location. Denver Labor rates, coverage and map.
Edgewater: the 2026 credit is $4.67
Edgewater’s minimum is $18.17, but its 2026 maximum tip offset is $4.67, leaving a $13.50 cash floor for eligible work. Using the state’s $3.02 offset for this local option would produce the wrong cash-wage split. With 40 eligible tipped hours and $150 tips, $540 cash leaves a $36.80 employer shortfall before reaching $726.80 gross. Edgewater’s adopted wage and tip-credit schedule.
Boulder city and county are separate jurisdictions
The City of Boulder’s 2026 floor is $16.82 with a $13.80 tipped cash floor for eligible food-and-beverage work. In July 2026 its council chose not to change the $3.02 tip offset. City of Boulder rate and tip-offset decision.
Unincorporated Boulder County also uses $16.82 and $13.80 in 2026. That county rule does not govern incorporated municipalities. A Boulder or Longmont mailing address can nevertheless be unincorporated, so use the county property search. For employers based elsewhere, the county describes coverage at four or more hours of work in the unincorporated area during a week. County boundary guidance and current schedule.
Compare all three Colorado overtime calculations
Ordinary COMPS overtime compares hours over 40 in the workweek, over 12 in each workday, and over 12 consecutive hours even across a workday boundary. The calculation producing the greater wages controls. Qualifying unpaid meal time may be subtracted from consecutive hours; do not treat a meal as automatically resetting that count. COMPS #40, rules 4.1.1–4.1.5.
| Ordinary state-floor example | Overtime hours | Gross wages |
|---|---|---|
| Three 14-hour workdays, separate periods | 6 | $682.20 |
| Five 9-hour days, no overnight period | 5 | $720.10 |
| One 14-hour period split as 7 hours in each of two workdays | 2 | $227.40 |
The first example has six daily overtime hours, exceeding its two weekly overtime hours. The last has no daily or weekly overtime but has two consecutive-period overtime hours. Enter the daily allocation and the separate period total to capture it.
Scope and tipped-pay checks
The model assumes one ordinary adult hourly job at the selected floor, a single jurisdiction, and a workweek containing all entered consecutive work periods. Agriculture, ski operations, specified transportation and care work, minors, exempt roles, and mixed pay rates can use different rules. Check those cases separately before confirming coverage.
Colorado defines a tipped employee using more than $1.64 per hour in tips averaged over the permitted pay period; local food-and-beverage restrictions can add conditions. The regular rate includes an applicable tip credit, so overtime is not simply 1.5 times the reduced cash wage. COMPS rules 1.8, 1.10 and 6.2.3.
The worksheet shows employer shortfall payments separately and repeats the rounded weekly result for annual estimates. It does not calculate income tax, paid-leave accrual, break violations, or benefit deductions.
Nearby workplace comparisons
Use the workplace’s rules: Wyoming minimum wage, Utah minimum wage, New Mexico minimum wage, Kansas minimum wage or Nebraska minimum wage. Colorado’s 12-hour tests should not be carried into another state without checking its law.
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Updated First published