New York Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official New York State Department of LaborNew York lets employers pay tipped workers a cash wage of $11.35 an hour and take a tip credit of up to $5.65, as long as tips bring total pay to at least the $17.00 minimum wage. This New York 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 $17.00 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 New York, sourced from the New York State Department of Labor. Tips you earn above the minimum are always yours to keep.
New York tipped workers get a cash wage of $11.35/hr, with up to a $5.65 tip credit toward the $17.00 minimum wage.
How the New York tipped wage and tip credit work
cash wage = $11.35/hr (paid by employer)
total before top-up = cash wage + your tips per hour
if total < $17.00: employer tops up to $17.00
effective pay = greater of (cash + tips) and $17.00
These are gross figures before tax. Tips are taxable income and must be reported. For your after-tax pay, see the New York paycheck calculator, and for the regular rate the New York minimum wage calculator.
Finding the right New York tipped rate for your job
New York has more moving parts than any other state here, because the tipped wage depends on both where you work and what you do. The figures on this page are the downstate food-service rates: an $11.35 cash wage and a $5.65 tip credit toward the $17.00 minimum in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester. Upstate food service runs lower at $10.70 plus a $5.30 credit against the $16.00 minimum, and tipped service employees such as hotel staff get a higher cash wage of $14.15 with a $2.85 credit downstate.
Before you can run the made-whole test, pin down your region and your job category, then add your cash wage to your tips per hour and confirm the total reaches the minimum for that combination. A downstate server on $11.35 who averages $4.00 an hour in tips lands at $15.35, below the $17.00 floor, so the employer owes a $1.65 top-up for those hours. Fast-food workers are a special case: they get the full minimum wage with no tip credit at all, so every tip is pure extra.
Keep records of your hours, cash wage and tips, and match them to the rate for your county and industry, not the statewide headline. If your stub shows no top-up in a slow week, or applies a tip credit your role is not eligible for, raise it with the New York State Department of Labor.
New York tipped minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the tipped minimum wage in New York in 2026?
In New York, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $11.35 an hour in 2026. Employers may count up to $5.65 an hour of tips (the "tip credit") toward the $17.00 minimum wage. If an employee's cash wage plus tips does not average at least $17.00 an hour, the employer must pay the difference.
Does New York allow a tip credit?
Yes. New York allows employers to take a tip credit of up to $5.65 an hour, meaning the direct cash wage can be as low as $11.35 an hour provided tips make up the rest to $17.00. The federal tip-credit floor is a $2.13 cash wage.
What happens if my tips do not reach minimum wage in New York?
Your employer must make up the shortfall. In any week where your cash wage of $11.35 plus your tips does not average at least $17.00 an hour, New York and federal law require the employer to top your pay up to $17.00. You should never earn less than the full minimum wage once tips are counted.
How much does a tipped worker make in New York?
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 $11.35 plus $12.00 tips is $23.35 an hour, which is above the $17.00 minimum, so the effective rate is $23.35 an hour, about $700.50 a week or $36,426.00 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: $11.35 in New York. The "tip credit" is how much of your tips the employer is allowed to count toward the regular minimum wage: $5.65 in New York. Cash wage plus tip credit equals the $17.00 minimum wage.
Official sources
- New York 2026 tipped and minimum wage figures: New York State Department of Labor, 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. Tipped rates vary by industry and region. Downstate food service: $11.35 cash + $5.65 credit; downstate service employees: $14.15 + $2.85; upstate food service: $10.70 + $5.30. Fast-food workers get the full minimum wage with no tip credit.