Alaska Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce DevelopmentAlaska does not allow a tip credit. Tipped workers must be paid the full $14.00 minimum wage in cash, and they keep all their tips on top. This Alaska tipped minimum wage calculator shows what that means in practice. Enter your tips and hours to see your total pay: the full $14.00 minimum in cash plus every dollar of tips on top. A tip credit lets an employer pay a lower direct cash wage and count part of your tips toward the regular minimum wage, but it can never leave you below the minimum: if tips fall short in a given week, the law requires the employer to make up the difference. The cash wage, tip credit and minimum wage used here are the 2026 figures for Alaska, sourced from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Tips you earn above the minimum are always yours to keep.
Alaska does not allow a tip credit: tipped workers get the full $14.00/hr minimum wage in cash, plus all tips.
How the Alaska tipped wage and tip credit work
cash wage = $14.00/hr (full minimum, no tip credit)
effective pay = $14.00 + your tips per hour
These are gross figures before tax. Tips are taxable income and must be reported. For your after-tax pay, see the Alaska paycheck calculator, and for the regular rate the Alaska minimum wage calculator.
No tip credit means your base rate is the whole test
Alaska is one of the states that refuses the sub-minimum tipped wage entirely. Under Alaska Statute 23.10.065 there is no tip credit, so your employer must pay the full $14.00 an hour in cash, and every dollar of tips sits on top of that. The tip credit box that servers in most states have to worry about simply does not exist here, which makes the make-whole check unusually simple.
Instead of averaging cash plus tips across a week, you only have to confirm one number: the base rate on your pay stub. If it reads $14.00 an hour or more before tips, you are being paid legally. If an employer tries to fold your tips into the $14.00, count a tip credit, or pay a lower cash wage because you earn gratuities, that is a violation on its face. Tips can be pooled among employees who customarily receive them, but owners, managers, and supervisors cannot take a share.
Two timing details are worth watching. The $14.00 rate took effect on July 1, 2026, not January 1, under Ballot Measure 1, and it is scheduled to rise to $15.00 on July 1, 2027, so a payroll system set up for a January change can lag by six months. Check that your July pay stub reflects the current rate, and confirm the figure with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Alaska tipped minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the tipped minimum wage in Alaska in 2026?
Alaska does not use a tipped minimum wage. Tipped workers must receive the full Alaska minimum wage of $14.00 an hour in cash from their employer, and any tips are theirs to keep on top of that.
Does Alaska allow a tip credit?
No. Alaska is one of the states that does not allow a tip credit. Every worker, tipped or not, must be paid at least the full $14.00 minimum wage in cash before tips.
What happens if my tips do not reach minimum wage in Alaska?
That situation does not arise in Alaska, because you are paid the full $14.00 minimum wage in cash regardless of tips. Tips are always extra.
How much does a tipped worker make in Alaska?
It depends on tips, but here is a worked example: a server working 30 hours a week and averaging $12.00 an hour in tips. Full minimum cash wage $14.00 plus $12.00 tips is $26.00 an hour, about $780.00 a week or $40,560.00 a year before tax. Use the calculator with your own tips and hours.
Is the tip credit the same as the tipped wage?
No, they are two sides of the same figure. The "tipped minimum wage" (or tipped cash wage) is what the employer pays directly: $14.00 in Alaska (the full minimum, because there is no tip credit). The "tip credit" is how much of your tips the employer is allowed to count toward the regular minimum wage: $0.00 in Alaska. Cash wage plus tip credit equals the $14.00 minimum wage.
Official sources
- Alaska 2026 tipped and minimum wage figures: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, as at July 11, 2026.
- Federal tip credit and the $2.13 cash-wage floor: US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 11 July 2026. See our methodology. General information, not legal or financial advice. Alaska does not allow a tip credit (AS 23.10.065); tipped workers receive the full minimum wage of $14.00/hr.