North Dakota Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official North Dakota Department of Labor and Human RightsNorth Dakota lets employers pay tipped workers a cash wage of $4.86 an hour and take a tip credit of up to $2.39, as long as tips bring total pay to at least the $7.25 minimum wage. This North Dakota 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 $7.25 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 North Dakota, sourced from the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights. Tips you earn above the minimum are always yours to keep.
North Dakota tipped workers get a cash wage of $4.86/hr, with up to a $2.39 tip credit toward the $7.25 minimum wage.
How the North Dakota tipped wage and tip credit work
cash wage = $4.86/hr (paid by employer)
total before top-up = cash wage + your tips per hour
if total < $7.25: employer tops up to $7.25
effective pay = greater of (cash + tips) and $7.25
These are gross figures before tax. Tips are taxable income and must be reported. For your after-tax pay, see the North Dakota paycheck calculator, and for the regular rate the North Dakota minimum wage calculator.
How North Dakota's capped tip credit protects your base
North Dakota does something most states do not: it caps the tip credit at 33 percent of the minimum wage. In practice that limits the credit to $2.39 an hour and holds the tipped cash wage at $4.86, more than double the federal $2.13 that many other states allow. Your guaranteed base is higher here, so less of your minimum pay is left riding on tips.
The made-whole test still applies. Add your $4.86 cash wage to your tips per hour and confirm the total reaches at least $7.25. Because the base is comparatively high, you only need to average $2.39 an hour in tips to clear the minimum, so top-ups are less common than in a $2.13 state, but they are still owed whenever a slow week leaves cash plus tips short. If your tips averaged just $1.50 an hour, your $4.86 base plus tips is $6.36, and the employer must add the $0.89 gap to reach $7.25.
North Dakota's standard rate is fixed at the federal $7.25 with no local variation, so the figures you check against do not change from town to town. Keep your own log of hours, cash wage and declared tips: it is the quickest way to confirm the $4.86 base was paid and any shortfall topped up. Raise problems with the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights.
North Dakota tipped minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the tipped minimum wage in North Dakota in 2026?
In North Dakota, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $4.86 an hour in 2026. Employers may count up to $2.39 an hour of tips (the "tip credit") toward the $7.25 minimum wage. If an employee's cash wage plus tips does not average at least $7.25 an hour, the employer must pay the difference.
Does North Dakota allow a tip credit?
Yes. North Dakota allows employers to take a tip credit of up to $2.39 an hour, meaning the direct cash wage can be as low as $4.86 an hour provided tips make up the rest to $7.25. The federal tip-credit floor is a $2.13 cash wage.
What happens if my tips do not reach minimum wage in North Dakota?
Your employer must make up the shortfall. In any week where your cash wage of $4.86 plus your tips does not average at least $7.25 an hour, North Dakota and federal law require the employer to top your pay up to $7.25. You should never earn less than the full minimum wage once tips are counted.
How much does a tipped worker make in North Dakota?
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 $4.86 plus $12.00 tips is $16.86 an hour, which is above the $7.25 minimum, so the effective rate is $16.86 an hour, about $505.80 a week or $26,301.60 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: $4.86 in North Dakota. The "tip credit" is how much of your tips the employer is allowed to count toward the regular minimum wage: $2.39 in North Dakota. Cash wage plus tip credit equals the $7.25 minimum wage.
Official sources
- North Dakota 2026 tipped and minimum wage figures: North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights, 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. North Dakota caps the tip credit at 33% of the minimum wage, so the tipped cash-wage floor is $4.86/hr (higher than the federal $2.13); tips plus cash must reach $7.25.