Hawaii Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial RelationsHawaii lets employers pay tipped workers a cash wage of $14.75 an hour and take a tip credit of up to $1.25, as long as tips bring total pay to at least the $16.00 minimum wage. This Hawaii tipped minimum wage calculator shows what that means in practice. Enter your average tips per hour and your weekly hours, and it works out whether your tips clear the tip credit, whether your employer owes you a top-up to reach the $16.00 minimum, and your effective hourly, weekly and yearly pay. 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 Hawaii, sourced from the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Tips you earn above the minimum are always yours to keep.
Hawaii tipped workers get a cash wage of $14.75/hr, with up to a $1.25 tip credit toward the $16.00 minimum wage.
How the Hawaii tipped wage and tip credit work
cash wage = $14.75/hr (paid by employer)
total before top-up = cash wage + your tips per hour
if total < $16.00: employer tops up to $16.00
effective pay = greater of (cash + tips) and $16.00
These are gross figures before tax. Tips are taxable income and must be reported. For your after-tax pay, see the Hawaii paycheck calculator, and for the regular rate the Hawaii minimum wage calculator.
Clearing Hawaii's $23.00 threshold before the credit applies
Hawaii attaches a condition to its tip credit that no other state in this group uses. An employer may pay a tipped cash wage of $14.75 an hour and claim a tip credit of at most $1.25, but only if the worker's cash wage plus tips reaches at least $7.00 above the minimum wage. With the minimum at $16.00 in 2026, that combined threshold is $23.00 an hour. Miss it, and the tip credit disappears entirely: the employer must pay the full $16.00 in cash, and you still keep your tips on top.
So the make-whole check in Hawaii is a two-step test, not the usual one. First, add your $14.75 cash wage to your weekly tips and divide by hours to see whether you clear $23.00 an hour. If you do, the $1.25 credit is valid and your floor is $16.00. If you do not, you are owed the full $16.00 cash wage regardless, which comes to about $33,280.00 a year at full time before tax.
The common mistake is treating Hawaii's credit like the federal one and stopping at the $14.75 cash wage. Always test the $23.00 combined figure first. Because the threshold is defined as $7.00 over the minimum, it will rise whenever the minimum does, including the scheduled step to $18.00 in 2028, so confirm the current numbers with the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
Hawaii tipped minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the tipped minimum wage in Hawaii in 2026?
In Hawaii, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $14.75 an hour in 2026. Employers may count up to $1.25 an hour of tips (the "tip credit") toward the $16.00 minimum wage. If an employee's cash wage plus tips does not average at least $16.00 an hour, the employer must pay the difference.
Does Hawaii allow a tip credit?
Yes. Hawaii allows employers to take a tip credit of up to $1.25 an hour, meaning the direct cash wage can be as low as $14.75 an hour provided tips make up the rest to $16.00. The federal tip-credit floor is a $2.13 cash wage.
What happens if my tips do not reach minimum wage in Hawaii?
Your employer must make up the shortfall. In any week where your cash wage of $14.75 plus your tips does not average at least $16.00 an hour, Hawaii and federal law require the employer to top your pay up to $16.00. You should never earn less than the full minimum wage once tips are counted.
How much does a tipped worker make in Hawaii?
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. Cash wage $14.75 plus $12.00 tips is $26.75 an hour, which is above the $16.00 minimum, so the effective rate is $26.75 an hour, about $802.50 a week or $41,730.00 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: $14.75 in Hawaii. The "tip credit" is how much of your tips the employer is allowed to count toward the regular minimum wage: $1.25 in Hawaii. Cash wage plus tip credit equals the $16.00 minimum wage.
Official sources
- Hawaii 2026 tipped and minimum wage figures: Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 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. The tip credit is at most $1.25/hr (cash wage $14.75), and is allowed only if the employee's cash wages plus tips total at least $7.00/hr above the minimum (at least $23.00/hr in 2026). Otherwise the employer must pay the full $16.00 in cash.