Which minimum wage applies to NYC employees living in New Jersey?

When an employee lives in New Jersey but performs work in New York City, the NYC minimum wage applies to the hours worked in NYC. Minimum wage obligations follow the location where work is performed, not where the employee lives. Employee residence doesn’t override work-location wage requirements.

Why work location determine the minimum wage

Minimum wage laws apply based on where work is physically performed. This principle is consistent across state and local frameworks and is how wage compliance is evaluated in practice.

New York City sets a local wage floor layered on top of New York State law. When work is performed within NYC, the local wage rate governs pay for those hours. New Jersey wage laws apply only to work performed within New Jersey, even if the employer is based in New York or manages payroll centrally.

Common scenarios and how they are treated

Employers often have to deal with the following situations:

• Employee lives in NJ and works onsite in NYC: NYC minimum wage applies to all hours worked in NYC.
• Employee lives in NJ and works remotely for an NYC-based employer: The applicable minimum wage depends on where the remote work is actually performed.
• Employee splits time between NJ and NYC: Wages may need to match the applicable wage floor for the location worked during each period.

Hybrid and remote work edge cases

Hybrid and remote roles create risk when work location is assumed rather than documented. The company headquarters or place of incorporation doesn’t define which minimum wage applies.

Common risk points include:

• Time spent working in NYC, even on a recurring part-time basis, can trigger NYC wage requirements for those hours
• Regularly scheduled work in the city.
• Applying a single wage rate to all hours without accounting for where the work occurs

Operational guidance for HR and payroll

To manage wage compliance risk, HR and payroll teams generally prioritize consistent documentation over interpretive analysis. In practice, this often includes:

• Tracking where work is actually performed.
• Aligning time tracking with work location for roles that cross state or city lines.
• Setting up payroll rules to apply location-based wage floors.

Roles that regularly span jurisdictions are reviewed periodically to confirm pay aligns with current work patterns. Clear records are also important for making sure that gross pay and net salary are correct and for being able to defend a position in case of an audit or an employee question.

TL;DR

• NYC minimum wage applies to hours worked in New York City, even when employees live in New Jersey. 
• Residence doesn’t define wage obligations, but work location does. 
• For cross-border and hybrid roles, it's important to keep track of and record hours worked to make sure the right wage floor is applied to each one.