Au pair rules, state by state
The J-1 au pair program is federal. Hours, days off, the education requirement and the stipend method are set by one regulation and are the same in Alabama and in Alaska. What differs from state to state is wage-and-hour law, so each state page pairs the federal rules with that state's minimum wage as the U.S. Department of Labor publishes it.
Minimum wage figures read from the Department of Labor table on 17 Sep 2026; the table itself is dated table updated 1 July 2026. The federal minimum wage on that table is $7.25 an hour.
What a state minimum wage does and does not settle
The regulation ties the au pair stipend to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is federal. Whether a state's own wage law also reaches a host family has been litigated: in Capron v. Office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts an au pair agency and two host families argued that the federal program preempts Massachusetts wage and hour law; the district court dismissed the case and the First Circuit affirmed that dismissal in December 2019. We list the published state figure so you can see it. We do not tell you which figure applies to your placement — ask your sponsor, and your state labor office if you are unsure.
All 50 states and DC
- AlabamaNo state law
- Alaska$14.00
- Arizona$15.15
- Arkansas$11.00
- California$16.90
- Colorado$15.16
- Connecticut$16.94
- Delaware$15.00
- District of Columbia$18.40
- Florida$14.00
- Georgia$5.15
- Hawaii$16.00
- Idaho$7.25
- Illinois$15.00
- Indiana$7.25
- Iowa$7.25
- Kansas$7.25
- Kentucky$7.25
- LouisianaNo state law
- Maine$15.10
- Maryland$15.00
- Massachusetts$15.00
- Michigan$13.73
- Minnesota$11.41
- MississippiNo state law
- Missouri$15.00
- Montana$10.85
- Nebraska$15.00
- Nevada$12.00
- New Hampshire$7.25
- New Jersey$15.92
- New Mexico$12.00
- New York$17.00–$16.00 (varies by region)
- North Carolina$7.25
- North Dakota$7.25
- Ohio$11.00–$7.25 (varies by business size)
- Oklahoma$7.25–$2.00 (varies by business size)
- Oregon$15.55–$14.55 (varies by region)
- Pennsylvania$7.25
- Rhode Island$16.00
- South CarolinaNo state law
- South Dakota$11.85
- TennesseeNo state law
- Texas$7.25
- Utah$7.25
- Vermont$14.42
- Virginia$12.77
- Washington$17.13
- West Virginia$8.75
- Wisconsin$7.25
- Wyoming$5.15
Sources
- 22 CFR § 62.31 — Au pairsU.S. Government Publishing Office (Code of Federal Regulations) · 22 CFR Ch. I (4-1-24 edition) · checked 17 Sep 2026
- Au Pair Program — BridgeUSAU.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs · checked 17 Sep 2026
- State Minimum Wage LawsU.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · table updated 1 July 2026 · checked 17 Sep 2026
- State Labor OfficesU.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · checked 17 Sep 2026
- Capron v. Office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts, No. 17-2140 (1st Cir.), decided 2 December 2019U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, via GovInfo · 2 December 2019 · checked 17 Sep 2026