Nebraska Minimum Wage 2026: $15 an Hour, $15.26 in 2027, and the New $13.50 Youth and Training Wages

Nebraska’s minimum wage is $15.00 an hour in 2026 [1][2]. That was the final step of the 2022 ballot initiative, which raised the wage from $9 through 2022 to $10.50, $12, $13.50 and then $15 [1]. In 2026 the Legislature changed what happens next: under LB 258, the wage now rises a fixed 1.75% each January 1, which makes it $15.26 in 2027 [1][2]. The same law added a $13.50 youth wage and a $13.50 training wage [1][2][3].

How the wage got to $15, and what LB 258 changed

Nebraska voters approved Initiative 433 in 2022, which wrote a series of raises into state law: $10.50 in 2023, $12 in 2024, $13.50 in 2025 and $15 in 2026 [1]. The initiative also tied raises after 2026 to inflation [7].

The Legislature replaced that inflation formula with LB 258, whose changes took effect July 18, 2026 [1][3]. Now the minimum wage rises by 1.75% on January 1, 2027, and every January 1 after that [1]. The Nebraska Department of Labor has to calculate and publish each new rate by October 15 of the year before [1]. Its published schedule runs $15.26 in 2027, $15.53 in 2028, $15.80 in 2029 and $16.08 in 2030 [2].

Lincoln radio station KLIN, citing the Nebraska Examiner, reported that the old inflation formula would have produced about $15.55 for 2027 [7].

Tipped workers

Employers of workers paid partly in tips, like servers and hotel bellhops, can pay a cash wage of $2.13 an hour plus all tips [1]. Wages plus tips have to equal at least the full minimum wage, and the employer has to make up any shortfall [1][2]. If there’s a dispute over whether someone counts as a tipped employee, the burden of proof is on the employer [1].

The new youth and training wages

Starting July 18, 2026, two lower rates apply to young workers [1][2][3]:

• Youth wage: $13.50 an hour for employees who are 14 or 15 and not emancipated [1]. It stays at $13.50 until January 1, 2030, when it becomes $13.70, then rises 1.5% every fifth year [1][2].
• Training wage: $13.50 an hour for a new employee who is 16 to 19, for 90 days from the hire date [3]. It doesn’t apply to seasonal or migrant workers or emancipated minors [3]. The rate goes up 1.5% each January 1, starting with $13.70 in 2027 [2][3].

The training wage comes with limits [3]:

• No more than one-fourth of the employer’s total paid hours can be at the training rate.
• An employer can’t cut another worker’s hours, lay someone off, or fire someone to make room for a new hire at the training rate.
• A second 90 days is allowed only during on-the-job training approved by the Commissioner of Labor.

Student-learners in a bona fide vocational training program can be paid at least 75% of the applicable minimum wage [1].

Who’s covered

Nebraska’s Wage and Hour Act applies to employers with four or more employees at any one time [4]. It doesn’t cover government employers, and some jobs are left out, including [4]:

• agricultural work,
• babysitting in or around a private home,
• executive, administrative and professional jobs, and supervisors,
• volunteers for nonprofit, charitable and religious groups, and
• a child working for a parent, or a parent working for a child.

If you’re not sure your job is covered, call the Nebraska Department of Labor at 402-471-2239 [2].

Lincoln’s minimum wage is in court

The Lincoln City Council passed an ordinance in 2026 meant to keep the inflation-based raises and limit the new youth wage in the city [7]. Nebraska’s attorney general sued, arguing state law preempts it, and in July a Lancaster County district judge temporarily blocked the ordinance while the case goes on [7]. Until a court rules otherwise, the statewide rates in the table above are the ones to use in Lincoln.

If you’re paid less than you’re owed

• Unpaid minimum wages: an employer that pays less than the minimum owes affected employees the difference. Employees can sue, on their own or as a group, and the court awards costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. Employees don’t have to pay filing fees in these cases [5].
• Unpaid wages in general: if wages aren’t paid within 30 days of the regular payday, you can sue for them under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act, and recover court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees if you win [6].
• Final paycheck: when you leave a private employer, unpaid wages are due on the next regular payday or within two weeks, whichever comes first [8].
• Pay stubs: every payday, your employer has to give you a wage statement showing hours paid, wages earned and deductions [8].

Paying less than the minimum is also a Class IV misdemeanor, prosecuted by the county attorney [5]. Questions about coverage or how to report a violation go to the Department of Labor at 402-471-2239 [2].

Other states

Comparing Nebraska with its neighbors? BestAmerica keeps a list of the minimum wage in every state.