Tipping Laws and Tipped Minimum Wage by State

Footnotes

1. Other additional deductions are permitted, for example for meals and lodging.
2. Connecticut. The Connecticut minimum wage is adjusted annually based on a set formula.
3. District of Columbia. Employers must currently pay a minimum cash wage of at least 56% the standard minimum wage and may claim the remaining difference in tip credit.
4. Florida. The scheduled increase in this Department of Labor footnote has taken effect.
6. New Jersey. An employer is eligible to apply a tip credit against the full state minimum hourly wage only if the tipped employees have been informed in advance of the amount of the cash wage that is to be paid; the amount of the tip credit claimed by the employer; that all tips received must be retained by the employee, except in case of a valid tip pool arrangement limited to tipped employees; and of the requirements of the relevant New Jersey regulations. There is a minimum wage of $15.23 per hour for employers who employ fewer than 6 people and employees engaged in seasonal employment.
7. Ohio. For employees of employers with gross annual sales of less than $405,000, the state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
8. Oklahoma. For employers with fewer than 10 full-time employees at any one location who have gross annual sales of $100,000 or less, the basic minimum rate is $2.00 per hour. Employers with ten or more full time employees at any one location or annual gross sales over $100,000 that are not covered by the FLSA can take a tip credit of no more than 50 percent ($3.62) of the applicable minimum wage of $7.25. The State law excludes from coverage any employment that is subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
9. Wisconsin. A cash wage of $2.13 per hour may be paid to an opportunity employee -- an employee who is not yet 20 years old and who has been in employment status with a particular employer for 90 or fewer consecutive calendar days from the date of initial employment -- who is a tipped employee. (The minimum wage for opportunity employees is $5.90 per hour.)
10. West Virginia. The state minimum wage law applies only to employers with six or more employees and to state agencies.
11. The following states do not have state minimum wage laws: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Georgia has a state minimum wage law, but it does not apply to tipped employees. Employers in these states must pay employees covered by the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act at least the federal minimum wage.
12. The minimum wage laws in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah exclude from coverage any employment that is subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
13. North Carolina. Tip credit is not permitted unless the employer obtains from each employee, either monthly or each pay period, a signed certification of the amount of tips received. Employers must notify employees in advance of the amount of cash wages they will be paid and the amount that wages will be increased using the tip credit.
14. Wyoming. The Wyoming minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. Employers must pay employees covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act at least the federal minimum wage.
15. Michigan. The minimum direct cash wage for tipped employees in Michigan is scheduled to increase annually until it reaches 50 percent of the state minimum wage in 2031. Additionally, the Michigan minimum wage is scheduled to increase on January 1, 2027 (to $15.00 per hour); it is then scheduled to be adjusted annually based on a set formula.