Philippine Minimum Wage Rates by Region (2026)

What is the regional minimum wage?

The Philippine minimum wage system is regional, not national. Republic Act No. 6727 (the Wage Rationalization Act) created the NWPC and 17 RTWPBs — one for NCR, one for CAR, one for BARMM, and one for each numbered administrative region — and gave each board authority to set, review, and adjust the minimum wage for its own area based on local cost of living, productivity, and socio-economic conditions. There has never been a single peso figure that applies everywhere; a wage that satisfies the law in one province can fall short in another.

Each board issues its adjustments as a numbered wage order, such as Wage Order NCR-26 or Wage Order RBIII-26. A wage order typically sets a basic daily wage figure, sometimes broken down by sector (agriculture versus non-agriculture) and by establishment size (small retail or service establishments regularly employing a limited number of workers often get a lower floor), and sometimes rolled out in two or more scheduled tranches on different effectivity dates. Because of this layered structure, a single region can legally show several different rates at once depending on who is being paid.

For payroll and tax purposes, SweldoSense's Daily Rate calculator and this guide use the highest general, typically non-agriculture, rate currently in force for each region as the reference figure. That is the ceiling used for the Minimum Wage Earner tax check described later in this guide — your own sector or area floor from the actual wage order may be lower, so treat the table as a starting point, not a substitute for the published order.

Who this applies to

• Private-sector rank-and-file employees paid a daily, weekly, or monthly wage in a covered establishment — the core group governed by RTWPB wage orders.
• Agricultural and non-agricultural workers — most wage orders publish separate, usually lower, rates for agriculture, and the map's headline figure is the non-agriculture ceiling.
• Employees of small retail or service establishments — many wage orders carve out a lower rate for shops or service businesses that regularly employ fewer than a threshold set in that order (commonly ten or fifteen workers), so a small sari-sari store or salon may legally pay less than the region's headline figure.
• Registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) under RA 9178 may qualify for a conditional exemption from the minimum wage law, subject to registration and compliance requirements — this does not remove SSS, PhilHealth, or Pag-IBIG obligations.
• Apprentices and learners under DOLE-registered programs may legally be paid a percentage of the applicable minimum wage during a defined training period.

Two groups are generally outside RTWPB wage orders. Kasambahay (domestic workers) are covered by their own minimum wage schedule under the Batas Kasambahay (RA 10361), not the regional non-agriculture rate shown on this map. Government employees are paid under the Salary Standardization Law and DBM salary schedules rather than NWPC wage orders — see our GSIS contribution guide for the public-sector contribution side. If you are unsure which category applies to you, start by confirming your employment classification with HR before comparing your pay to any figure on this page.

What you need to check your rate

• Your exact work region, province, and city or municipality (some wage orders split rates by area within a region)
• Whether your employer classifies your role as agriculture or non-agriculture for wage purposes
• Your establishment's headcount, if you work in retail or services (small-establishment floors may apply)
• The wage order number and effectivity date currently in force for your region — not an older, superseded order
• Your actual basic daily wage as shown on your payslip, separate from allowances, overtime, or holiday pay
• Whether cost-of-living allowance (COLA) is already integrated into your basic wage or listed as a separate line
• Access to nwpc.dole.gov.ph to download the current wage order PDF for your region

Keep a copy of your latest payslip beside the wage order text. The goal is to compare your actual basic daily wage — not your total take-home pay — against the correct sector and area floor from the current order, not against the single headline figure shown on a summary map.

Rates by region

The table below lists each region's highest general (non-agriculture) daily minimum wage as of July 18, 2026, alongside the wage order behind each figure. Click a region to expand the cities and provinces covered under that wage board (from NWPC). For an interactive Philippine map you can tap or hover, use the Daily Rate calculator. Always verify the current order on Official Resources (NWPC) before relying on a rate for payroll.

How to verify on the official NWPC site

1. Open the official source. Go to nwpc.dole.gov.ph — the National Wages and Productivity Commission's site, not a third-party summary.
2. Find the regional daily minimum wage rates table. NWPC publishes a summary table of current rates by region, plus a library of wage orders by RTWPB.
3. Identify your board. Match your work location to its RTWPB — for example NCR has its own board, while CALABARZON is Region IV-A's board, and so on for all 17 regions and BARMM.
4. Open the current wage order PDF. Confirm the wage order number, its date of publication, and its effectivity date. Some orders have two or more tranches; make sure you are reading the rate that applies today, not a superseded or future tranche.
5. Check the sector and area breakdown. Read the full schedule inside the order, not just the headline number — agriculture, non-agriculture, and small retail/service categories are usually listed separately, sometimes by specific province or city.
6. Cross-check against your payslip. Compare the basic daily wage figure on your payslip to the correct row for your sector, area, and establishment size.
7. Save the citation. Note the wage order number and effectivity date so you can reference it accurately if you need to raise a discrepancy with HR or DOLE.

Because RTWPBs issue orders independently and on different schedules, treat any third-party table — including the legend on this page — as a starting point only. The wage order text on nwpc.dole.gov.ph is the controlling legal document.

MWE tax exemption under TRAIN

The TRAIN Law (Republic Act No. 10963) preserved and reinforced an income-tax exemption for Statutory Minimum Wage Earners (MWEs). If your basic pay does not exceed the applicable regional daily (or its monthly-equivalent) minimum wage for your area and sector, that basic pay is exempt from income tax and from withholding tax. The exemption also extends to holiday pay, overtime pay, night shift differential, and hazard pay earned in that MWE status — these are not treated as separate taxable add-ons on top of exempt basic pay.

Two things do not change because of MWE status. First, SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG contributions still apply — the exemption is specific to income tax, not to mandatory social contributions. Second, if your total pay includes other taxable items on top of the statutory minimum wage — such as commissions, discretionary bonuses beyond the statutory-benefit list, or a basic rate above the regional minimum — those excess amounts may not qualify for the exemption and can become taxable, depending on how your payroll classifies them.

On SweldoSense, the Daily Rate calculator converts your daily wage to an EMR and estimates net pay after contributions and tax. Tap regions on that page's map to see each board's highest general rate, and use this guide's table for wage-order citations. For the full annual TRAIN bracket structure that applies once you are taxed, read the TRAIN Law tax guide.

Daily rate to monthly: the DOLE EMR

Minimum wage orders are published as a daily figure, but many payroll systems, loan applications, and benefit computations need a monthly number. DOLE's Workers' Statutory Monetary Benefits Handbook provides the Estimated Equivalent Monthly Rate (EMR) — sometimes written EEMR — for converting a daily-paid employee's wage into a comparable monthly figure using a fixed annual working-days factor.

The formula is: EMR = (daily rate × factor) ÷ 12. Multiplying by the factor first estimates total annual pay across working days, holidays, and (where applicable) paid rest days for the year, then dividing by 12 spreads that annual figure evenly across calendar months — which is why the factor is not simply "days per week × 52 weeks." SweldoSense's Daily Rate calculator applies factors 261 (5-day) and 313 (6-day, unpaid rest days), then passes the resulting monthly gross through the same SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, and TRAIN Law withholding pipeline used for monthly-rate employees. Factor 314 (paid rest days) remains a valid DOLE/payroll variant but is not selectable in the calculator.

Worked example

Example 1 — NCR, 5-day week. A daily-paid worker in NCR earns exactly the current non-agriculture minimum of ₱695/day on a standard 5-day work week (factor 261). EMR = (₱695 × 261) ÷ 12 = ₱181,395 ÷ 12 = ₱15,116.25/month. Because the daily rate does not exceed the NCR reference minimum wage, this worker's basic pay qualifies for the MWE income-tax exemption; SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG are still deducted from the ₱15,116.25 monthly gross under the normal 2026 tables.

Example 2 — Region III, 6-day week (calculator factor 313). A daily-paid worker in Region III earns the current non-agriculture minimum of ₱600/day on a 6-day work week with unpaid rest days (factor 313 — the factor SweldoSense's Daily Rate calculator uses for 6-day schedules). EMR = (₱600 × 313) ÷ 12 = ₱187,800 ÷ 12 = ₱15,650.00/month. Some employers instead pay for unworked rest days (factor 314), which would raise EMR to (₱600 × 314) ÷ 12 = ₱15,700.00/month — a ₱50 monthly difference driven by rest-day pay policy, not the wage rate itself. Confirm which factor your payroll uses.

Both examples assume the worker's daily rate equals their region's headline general rate exactly. If your actual daily rate is higher — for example a Region III worker paid ₱650/day — swap in your real daily figure and rerun the same EMR formula; a rate above the regional minimum wage generally means the MWE tax exemption no longer applies to that pay.

Common mistakes

• Assuming one national minimum wage exists. There is no single Philippine-wide figure — every region, and often every sector within a region, has its own rate.
• Using NCR's rate for provincial payroll. NCR consistently has one of the highest rates; applying it outside NCR overstates required pay and can misclassify tax treatment.
• Confusing agriculture and non-agriculture rates. The table's headline figure is the non-agriculture ceiling — agricultural work in the same region is often paid at a lower statutory floor.
• Ignoring wage order tranches. Some orders schedule a second (or third) rate increase months after the first; using only the initial tranche after a later one has taken effect understates the legal minimum.
• Treating this table (or any third-party summary) as the legal source. Always confirm the specific wage order text at nwpc.dole.gov.ph before a payroll decision or dispute.
• Skipping the small-establishment or BMBE carve-outs. Some businesses have a legally lower floor or a conditional exemption — don't assume every employer must pay the headline non-agriculture rate.
• Forgetting that MWE tax exemption is about income tax only. SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG contributions are still deducted from a Minimum Wage Earner's pay.
• Applying the wrong EMR factor. Using the 5-day factor (261) for a 6-day work schedule, or mixing up paid versus unpaid rest days, produces a monthly figure that is off by a meaningful amount.

Practical tips

• Bookmark nwpc.dole.gov.ph and check it whenever you start a new job, transfer regions, or hear about a new wage order in the news.
• Use the SweldoSense Daily Rate calculator to convert your exact daily rate to an EMR and explore regional floors on the interactive map.
• Know your wage order number, not just a peso figure — orders get superseded, and a number lets you find the exact legal text quickly.
• If you switch between a 5-day and 6-day schedule, or your employer changes its rest-day pay policy, recompute your EMR — the factor, not just the daily rate, changed.
• Keep printed or saved copies of the wage order that applied when you were hired, in case a later dispute needs to reference historical rates.
• If your pay looks below the correct floor for your region and sector, raise it with HR first, citing the specific wage order — before assuming it is a violation.

Buod sa Tagalog

Walang isang minimum wage para sa buong Pilipinas — iba-iba ito kada rehiyon at kada sektor (agrikultura o non-agriculture), ayon sa wage order ng bawat Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) sa ilalim ng NWPC. Sa Hulyo 18, 2026, ang pinakamataas na non-agriculture rate sa NCR ay ₱695/araw, at tumaas ito sa ₱755/araw sa ilalim ng Wage Order NCR-27, epektibo Hulyo 25, 2026. Kung ang iyong araw-araw na sahod ay hindi lalampas sa minimum wage ng iyong rehiyon, ikaw ay itinuturing na Minimum Wage Earner (MWE) sa ilalim ng TRAIN Law (RA 10963) at exempted sa income tax sa basic pay mo — pero patuloy na may bawas na SSS, PhilHealth, at Pag-IBIG. Para i-convert ang daily rate sa monthly gamit ang DOLE EMR, gamitin ang formula: (daily rate × factor) ÷ 12, kung saan ang factor ay 261 (5-day week) o 313 (6-day week); 314 (may bayad sa rest day) ay valid sa payroll pero hindi selectable sa calculator. I-verify palagi ang kasalukuyang rate sa nwpc.dole.gov.ph, at gamitin ang Daily Rate calculator ng SweldoSense para makita ang iyong net pay at ang interactive map ng rehiyon.

Conclusion

Minimum wage in the Philippines is set region by region, and often sector by sector within a region, through wage orders from each RTWPB under NWPC oversight. Use the rate table on this page as a quick reference for the current highest general rate in your area as of July 18, 2026 — remembering that NCR's rate rises again on July 25, 2026 — but treat nwpc.dole.gov.ph as the final authority for your specific wage order. If you are paid daily, use the DOLE EMR factors to see your equivalent monthly rate, and open the SweldoSense Daily Rate calculator to estimate net pay and tap the regional minimum wage map.