Texas preempts local minimum wage laws under Local Government Code Chapter 229, leaving the federal $7.25 per hour rate as the floor for most private employers in Travis County, though Austin and Travis County set higher wages for their own employees.
Texas Labor Code Chapter 62 ties the state minimum wage to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act rate, currently $7.25 per hour. Local Government Code Chapter 229, expanded by HB 2127 (2023, effective 2024), broadly preempts cities and counties from enacting higher private-sector wage floors. Austin and Travis County government can pay their own staff and contract workers above $20 per hour as employer policy, and Austin promotes a living wage for tipped service workers, but they cannot mandate it for private businesses. Federal contractors face separate Executive Order minimums.
Private employers below the federal $7.25 floor face Department of Labor wage-and-hour investigations, back pay liability, and double damages; local minimum wage ordinances against private employers are unenforceable under preemption.
See how Travis County's minimum wage preemption rules stack up against other locations.
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