Montana Minimum Wage Calculator
Montana’s ordinary minimum becomes $11.20 an hour on January 1, 2027, up from $10.85, under the DLI determination letter of October 7, 2026 (rechecked October 15, 2026). The 2026 rate of $10.85 replaced $10.55 from 2025. Montana permits no tip credit: a server’s tips are added to employer wages. A narrow $4 exception requires both a small-business sales limit and absence of federal coverage.
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. Retained voluntary tips are additional to the full cash wage. 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: 2026-01-01 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 9, 2026. Montana DLI current wage and coverage guidance; 2027 determination letter.
Montana’s 2027 minimum: $11.20 from January 1
DLI’s determination letter dated October 7, 2026 raises the ordinary floor from $10.85 to $11.20 for work on or after January 1, 2027. The letter applies the 3.40% August CPI-U increase ($0.37) and rounds the $11.22 subtotal to the nearest five cents, as § 39-3-409 MCA requires. At 40 hours, a week pays $448 instead of $434; over 52 weeks that is $23,296 instead of $22,568. The calculator applies $11.20 to work dates from January 1, 2027. The 2027 DLI poster keeps the $4 exception and still allows no tip credit, meal credit or training wage.
What changed from Montana’s 2025 minimum?
| Ordinary floor | 2025 | 2026 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| One hour | $10.55 | $10.85 | $0.30 |
| 40-hour week | $422 | $434 | $12 |
| 40 hours × 52 weeks | $21,944 | $22,568 | $624 |
The 2025 determination established $10.55; the 2026 determination establishes $10.85. These comparisons assume unchanged hours and no overtime. The 2025 column is a comparison, not a calculator period; the calculator covers 2026 and 2027 work dates.
Who can use the $4 small-business exception?
All three conditions must be established: business gross annual sales are $110,000 or less, the business is outside FLSA coverage, and the employee is outside individual FLSA coverage. An employee producing or moving goods between states, or otherwise federally covered, must receive the greater of the federal and Montana minimum. In 2026 that ordinary floor is $10.85. Revenue alone cannot select the $4 category. DLI exception explanation.
The exception selector assumes the job still has ordinary Montana overtime protection. At 40 hours the $4 scenario produces $160; at 45 hours it produces $190. A sales figure entered into a spreadsheet cannot establish either the federal exemption or an occupational overtime exemption.
Tips do not reduce the employer’s hourly payment
At 40 hours on the ordinary floor, the employer pays $434. If the worker retains $200 in tips, combined gross becomes $634. With 45 hours and $200 tips, employer wages are $515.38 and gross is $715.38. The calculator offers no reduced tipped cash wage. Montana also disallows meal credits and a training wage under its wage and hour law. State credit restrictions.
Count actual work before calculating overtime
The ordinary weekly threshold is 40 actual working hours. A week with 36 hours worked and eight paid holiday hours has 36 worked hours for this threshold; paid leave belongs in a separate pay calculation. Agricultural and other exempt occupations need separate analysis. DLI overtime FAQ.
At the ordinary floor, 48 actual hours produce $564.20 before tips. Forty-eight hours one week and 32 the next produce $911.40 total; averaging the two to 40 hours would understate wages by $43.40. This model assumes one hourly rate with no bonus or additional regular-rate component.
Convert a seasonal schedule without inventing a full year
A 30-hour week at $10.85 earns $325.50. Repeating it for 20 weeks gives $6,510. A 40-hour schedule for all 52 weeks gives $22,568, averaging $1,880.67 per month across the year. These are gross scenarios; neither the calendar nor the calculator guarantees paid weeks.
Reconcile a Montana final paycheck
DLI distinguishes quitting from discharge. A worker who quits is generally paid by the next scheduled payday or within 15 calendar days, whichever comes first. Discharge generally requires payment within four hours or the end of the business day, whichever occurs first; a preexisting written policy can extend that deadline within the limits DLI describes. Retain your hours, pay statements and applicable policy when comparing a final check. Final-pay deadlines and wage-claim route.
For work across state lines, use the work location’s rules: Idaho minimum wage, North Dakota minimum wage, South Dakota minimum wage or Wyoming minimum wage. Sources · Methodology.
Updated First published