This is a single, sortable comparison of the white-collar (EAP) overtime-exempt salary threshold in every US state and the District of Columbia for 2026 — the minimum salary a salaried executive, administrative or professional employee must earn to be classified as exempt from overtime. Use it to see how your state compares to the federal floor of $684 per week ($35,568 per year), then click any state for its own checker.
Federal floor: $684/week ($35,568/year)
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the EAP exempt salary threshold is $684 per week ($35,568 per year). The 2024 DOL rule that would have raised it to $844 then $1,128/week was vacated nationwide on November 15, 2024; the threshold reverted to $684/week. Most states have no higher rule, so the federal figure governs there.
The six states that set a higher floor
- Alaska
- California
- Colorado
- Maine
- New York
- Washington
Washington is the highest in the nation; California, New York, Colorado, Maine and Alaska also exceed the federal floor. Several are indexed to the state minimum wage and move every year. The table shows the 2026 effective figure (New York’s downstate region; Washington’s unified 2026 level).
The salary-level test is only step one
Clearing the salary threshold does not by itself make an employee exempt — they must also pass the job-duties test for the executive, administrative or professional exemption. This table covers the salary-LEVEL test only, which is the part that is a clean number.
The three-part EAP exemption test
To be exempt from overtime under the FLSA’s white-collar exemptions, an employee must satisfy all three of the following:
- Salary basis — paid a predetermined fixed salary that is not subject to reduction based on quality or quantity of work.
- Salary level — paid at or above the applicable threshold (federal or the higher state floor if one applies).
- Duties — the job’s actual primary duties meet the definition of executive, administrative, or professional work.
A highly-paid employee with a vague or predominantly non-exempt duties profile is still owed overtime. A manager whose salary clears the floor but who is docked pay for partial-day absences may have lost salary-basis status.
How indexed state thresholds move
Washington and Colorado tie their exempt salary floors to a multiple of the state minimum wage. When the state minimum wage increases on January 1 each year, the exempt threshold rises automatically without separate rulemaking. This means the 2027 figure may differ from the 2026 figure even without any new legislation.
California’s threshold is set by the Industrial Welfare Commission and is periodically adjusted. New York’s threshold is set by region: higher in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties than in the rest of the state. Both are subject to adjustment by the relevant agencies.
What to do if an employee is near the threshold
An employee paid just below the applicable threshold can be made exempt by increasing their salary to meet it. An employee significantly below threshold would require a larger salary increase, and even then the duties test must still be satisfied. The alternative — properly treating them as non-exempt and paying overtime — is often simpler for employees whose job duties do not cleanly meet the EAP criteria regardless of salary.
Not legal advice. Verify any figure against the relevant state labor department before classifying an employee. Sources: US DOL + state labor departments, as of 2026-06-18.