Texas Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official Texas Workforce CommissionTexas lets employers pay tipped workers a cash wage of $2.13 an hour and take a tip credit of up to $5.12, as long as tips bring total pay to at least the $7.25 minimum wage. This Texas 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 Texas, sourced from the Texas Workforce Commission. Tips you earn above the minimum are always yours to keep.
Texas tipped workers get a cash wage of $2.13/hr, with up to a $5.12 tip credit toward the $7.25 minimum wage.
How the Texas tipped wage and tip credit work
cash wage = $2.13/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 Texas paycheck calculator, and for the regular rate the Texas minimum wage calculator.
Texas's $20 tip threshold and the weekly make-up
Texas mirrors the federal tip-credit structure but draws one line lower than the national default. Under the Texas Minimum Wage Act you count as a tipped employee once you make more than $20 a month in tips, not the $30 the federal rules use. Above that line an employer may pay a $2.13 cash wage and take up to a $5.12 tip credit, provided your tips lift the total to the $7.25 minimum. The Texas Workforce Commission administers the state Act, though nearly every Texas employer also falls under federal law.
To confirm you are being made whole, work in whole workweeks. Total your cash wages and the tips you kept, divide by the hours worked, and hold the figure against $7.25. Any week it falls short, the employer must top it up in that pay period, and the credit they claim can never be larger than the tips you actually received. Because Texas bars cities from setting a higher private-sector minimum, this same $7.25 test applies whether you wait tables in Houston, Austin or a small town off the interstate.
Put your own tips per hour and weekly hours into the calculator above to see your effective rate and what it annualizes to over a 2,080-hour year.
Texas tipped minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the tipped minimum wage in Texas in 2026?
In Texas, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $2.13 an hour in 2026. Employers may count up to $5.12 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 Texas allow a tip credit?
Yes. Texas allows employers to take a tip credit of up to $5.12 an hour, meaning the direct cash wage can be as low as $2.13 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 Texas?
Your employer must make up the shortfall. In any week where your cash wage of $2.13 plus your tips does not average at least $7.25 an hour, Texas 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 Texas?
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 $2.13 plus $12.00 tips is $14.13 an hour, which is above the $7.25 minimum, so the effective rate is $14.13 an hour, about $423.90 a week or $22,042.80 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: $2.13 in Texas. The "tip credit" is how much of your tips the employer is allowed to count toward the regular minimum wage: $5.12 in Texas. Cash wage plus tip credit equals the $7.25 minimum wage.
Official sources
- Texas 2026 tipped and minimum wage figures: Texas Workforce Commission, 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. Texas follows the federal FLSA: tipped cash wage $2.13; tips plus cash must equal at least $7.25/hr or the employer makes up the difference.