Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official Virginia Department of Labor and IndustryVirginia lets employers pay tipped workers a cash wage of $2.13 an hour and take a tip credit of up to $10.64, as long as tips bring total pay to at least the $12.77 minimum wage. This Virginia 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 $12.77 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 Virginia, sourced from the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry. Tips you earn above the minimum are always yours to keep.
Virginia tipped workers get a cash wage of $2.13/hr, with up to a $10.64 tip credit toward the $12.77 minimum wage.
How the Virginia 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 < $12.77: employer tops up to $12.77
effective pay = greater of (cash + tips) and $12.77
These are gross figures before tax. Tips are taxable income and must be reported. For your after-tax pay, see the Virginia paycheck calculator, and for the regular rate the Virginia minimum wage calculator.
Why Virginia's tip credit is $10.64, not $5.12
Virginia keeps the federal $2.13 cash wage for tipped workers but pairs it with a much larger tip credit, because the state minimum sits well above the federal one. With a $12.77 minimum in 2026 and a $2.13 direct wage, the employer can claim up to $10.64 an hour in tips, roughly double the $5.12 credit in federal-floor states. That also means your tips must do more work: they have to average $10.64 an hour just to reach the minimum before any of it is genuinely extra.
To confirm you are made whole, add your cash wages and kept tips across the full workweek, divide by the hours worked, and check the result against $12.77. If it falls below, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry requires the employer to top up that paycheck, and the credit claimed can never be larger than the tips you actually received. One thing to plan for: the minimum is legislated to rise to $13.75 on January 1, 2027 and $15.00 on January 1, 2028, and the tip credit widens with each step, so re-run the numbers every January.
Enter your own tips per hour and weekly hours in the calculator above to see your effective rate and what it totals over a 2,080-hour year.
Virginia tipped minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the tipped minimum wage in Virginia in 2026?
In Virginia, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $2.13 an hour in 2026. Employers may count up to $10.64 an hour of tips (the "tip credit") toward the $12.77 minimum wage. If an employee's cash wage plus tips does not average at least $12.77 an hour, the employer must pay the difference.
Does Virginia allow a tip credit?
Yes. Virginia allows employers to take a tip credit of up to $10.64 an hour, meaning the direct cash wage can be as low as $2.13 an hour provided tips make up the rest to $12.77. The federal tip-credit floor is a $2.13 cash wage.
What happens if my tips do not reach minimum wage in Virginia?
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 $12.77 an hour, Virginia and federal law require the employer to top your pay up to $12.77. You should never earn less than the full minimum wage once tips are counted.
How much does a tipped worker make in Virginia?
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 $12.77 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 Virginia. The "tip credit" is how much of your tips the employer is allowed to count toward the regular minimum wage: $10.64 in Virginia. Cash wage plus tip credit equals the $12.77 minimum wage.
Official sources
- Virginia 2026 tipped and minimum wage figures: Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, as at July 16, 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. Virginia uses the federal tip credit: tipped cash wage $2.13; tips plus cash must reach $12.77/hr.