South Dakota Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official South Dakota Department of Labor & RegulationSouth Dakota lets employers pay tipped workers a cash wage of $5.93 an hour and take a tip credit of up to $5.92, as long as tips bring total pay to at least the $11.85 minimum wage. This South 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 $11.85 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 South Dakota, sourced from the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation. Tips you earn above the minimum are always yours to keep.
South Dakota tipped workers get a cash wage of $5.93/hr, with up to a $5.92 tip credit toward the $11.85 minimum wage.
How the South Dakota tipped wage and tip credit work
cash wage = $5.93/hr (paid by employer)
total before top-up = cash wage + your tips per hour
if total < $11.85: employer tops up to $11.85
effective pay = greater of (cash + tips) and $11.85
These are gross figures before tax. Tips are taxable income and must be reported. For your after-tax pay, see the South Dakota paycheck calculator, and for the regular rate the South Dakota minimum wage calculator.
Half the minimum: $5.93 in cash toward $11.85
South Dakota fixes the tipped cash wage by a clean formula: exactly half the state minimum wage. With the minimum at $11.85 for 2026, half is $5.925, which the state rounds to $5.93 an hour. The remaining tip credit is $5.92, the amount your employer may count from your tips toward the $11.85 floor. So $5.93 in cash plus $5.92 in tips per hour reaches $11.85, and everything above that is yours to keep.
Because the minimum is indexed to inflation every January and can only rise, both halves drift upward over time. That means the $5.93 cash wage you see now will very likely be higher next January, and so will the $11.85 target your tips have to help reach. It pays to recheck both figures at the start of each year.
To confirm you were made whole, average your pay over the workweek: total tips divided by hours worked, plus the $5.93 cash wage. If that weekly average falls below $11.85 an hour, South Dakota law requires your employer to top you up to $11.85. Keep your own tip and hours record, since tip pooling and tip-out to support staff can pull your effective rate below what the point-of-sale system shows. One local note: South Dakota voters rejected a lower training wage for workers under 18, so the standard tipped rules apply to teenage tipped staff too, not a discounted figure.
South Dakota tipped minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the tipped minimum wage in South Dakota in 2026?
In South Dakota, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $5.93 an hour in 2026. Employers may count up to $5.92 an hour of tips (the "tip credit") toward the $11.85 minimum wage. If an employee's cash wage plus tips does not average at least $11.85 an hour, the employer must pay the difference.
Does South Dakota allow a tip credit?
Yes. South Dakota allows employers to take a tip credit of up to $5.92 an hour, meaning the direct cash wage can be as low as $5.93 an hour provided tips make up the rest to $11.85. The federal tip-credit floor is a $2.13 cash wage.
What happens if my tips do not reach minimum wage in South Dakota?
Your employer must make up the shortfall. In any week where your cash wage of $5.93 plus your tips does not average at least $11.85 an hour, South Dakota and federal law require the employer to top your pay up to $11.85. You should never earn less than the full minimum wage once tips are counted.
How much does a tipped worker make in South 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 $5.93 plus $12.00 tips is $17.93 an hour, which is above the $11.85 minimum, so the effective rate is $17.93 an hour, about $537.90 a week or $27,970.80 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: $5.93 in South Dakota. The "tip credit" is how much of your tips the employer is allowed to count toward the regular minimum wage: $5.92 in South Dakota. Cash wage plus tip credit equals the $11.85 minimum wage.
Official sources
- South Dakota 2026 tipped and minimum wage figures: South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation, 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 tipped cash wage is half the state minimum ($5.925, shown as $5.93); combined with tips it must reach $11.85.