The federal exempt salary threshold for 2026 is $684 a week ($35,568 a year); the higher 2024 numbers were vacated by a federal court and no longer apply.
Highly compensated employees need $107,432 a year. The higher numbers you've seen ($43,888 and $58,656) came from a 2024 Labor Department rule that a federal court in Texas vacated on November 15, 2024. The Department formally restored the $684 level on May 15, 2026.1 Some states set higher floors, including California, New York, Washington, and Colorado. And clearing the threshold is only step one: your duties still have to qualify.
Last updated: October 3, 2026.
| Test | 2026 federal amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Standard salary level (executive, administrative, professional) | $684 a week ($35,568 a year), paid on a salary basis | 2 |
| Highly compensated employee (HCE) | $107,432 a year total, including at least $684 a week in salary | 3 |
| Computer employees paid hourly | $27.63 an hour | 4 |
| Bonus credit | Nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives, and commissions can cover up to 10% of the $684 | 5 |
| U.S. territories | $455 a week (CNMI, Guam, Puerto Rico, USVI); $380 a week (American Samoa), non-federal employers | 6 |
In April 2024 the DOL issued a rule7 raising the salary level to $844 a week on July 1, 2024 ($43,888 a year) and $1,128 a week on January 1, 2025 ($58,656 a year). It also raised the HCE level to $132,964 and then $151,164.
On November 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the 2024 rule.8 The January 2025 increase never took effect.
On May 15, 2026, the DOL cleaned up the books. In its words, it was “removing from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) the regulatory text from the now-vacated 2024 rule and republishing in its place the regulatory text as it existed prior to the effective date of that rule.”1 Effective the same day. Any page still quoting $58,656 as the current number is wrong.
The FLSA is a floor. The DOL calls its wage and hour requirements “minimum standards, a federal floor.”9 Where a state sets a higher salary test, the employer has to meet that one too for the state-law exemption. We plead state wage-law claims alongside the FLSA, so the state number matters.
| State | 2026 weekly | 2026 yearly | How it's set / who it covers | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $1,352.00 | $70,304 | Two times the state minimum wage ($16.90 in 2026) for full-time work (40 hours). Executive, administrative, and professional. | 10 |
| New York: New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester | $1,275.00 | $66,300 | Rises with the state minimum wage. Executive and administrative employees. | 11 |
| New York: rest of state | $1,199.10 | $62,353.20 | Same rule. Executive and administrative employees. | 11 |
| Washington | $1,541.70 | $80,168.40 | 2.25 times the state minimum wage. All employers. | 12 |
| Colorado | about $1,111.23 | $57,784 | Set by the COMPS Order; inflation-adjusted after 2026. Executive, administrative, and professional. | 13 |
Weekly and yearly figures not printed by the agency are computed from the agency's number (52 weeks; 2,080 hours). We re-check every figure each January. Other states either follow the federal $684 level, use different rules, or have no salary test at all. Check yours on our state overtime law pages, including California, New York, and Colorado.
The salary test is a gate, not a verdict. “A job title alone is insufficient to establish the exempt status of an employee.”14 Neither is a paycheck. Above $684, your employer still has to prove your duties fit the administrative exemption, the learned professional exemption, or another test.
Same at the high end. The HCE test applies to an employee who “customarily and regularly performs any one or more of the exempt duties or responsibilities of an executive, administrative or professional employee.”15 No exempt duties, no HCE exemption, no matter the pay.
The rule: “Up to ten percent of the salary amount required by § 541.600(a) may be satisfied by the payment of nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives and commissions, that are paid annually or more frequently.”5 So at least $615.60 a week has to come as salary. Discretionary bonuses don't count. The 10% credit doesn't apply to the HCE test.
If you're paid a salary under $684 a week (or under your state's number), called exempt, and working over 40 hours, you're likely owed overtime for those hours. Pull a few pay stubs and write down your typical weekly hours. Then run the 10-question check.
Siegel Law Group has recovered more than $100 million for workers in federal overtime cases, including a $38.7 million class and collective settlement in Pruess v. Presbyterian Health Plan,16 where the firm was lead counsel. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
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No. It came from the 2024 rule that was vacated on November 15, 2024. The federal number is $684 a week.
No. The federal number stayed at $684. Several state numbers did go up, because they're tied to state minimum wage or inflation.
No. The salary level is measured exclusive of board, lodging, or other facilities. For HCE, payments for medical insurance, life insurance, retirement contributions, and other fringe benefits don't count either.17
No. Licensed doctors and lawyers practicing their profession are exempt without a salary test.18
No. The HCE test still requires that you customarily and regularly perform at least one exempt duty.15
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