2022 Iowa Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2022 Iowa Tipped Minimum Wage is $4.35.
Effective 2022-01-01Source: Wage Claims FAQ (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2021
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2021.
| Item | 2021 | 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $4.35 | $4.35 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Tipped employees in Iowa whose employers take a tip credit
What changed this year, and why
Iowa's minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $4.35 per hour in 2022.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum wage in Iowa for 2022?
- The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Iowa is $4.35 per hour for 2022. If the cash wage plus tips do not average at least the full minimum wage in any work week, the employer must pay the difference.
- Who qualifies as a tipped employee?
- Employees who earn a certain amount or more in tips each month may be paid the lower cash wage, as long as their total earnings reach the full minimum wage.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Iowa, an employee qualifies as a tipped employee if they make $30 per month or more in tips. Once that threshold is met, the employer is permitted to pay a reduced cash wage rather than the full minimum wage. The $30-per-month figure is the dividing line: workers below it are entitled to the standard minimum wage, while workers at or above it fall under the special tipped-employee rules that allow their employer to pay less per hour in direct wages, so long as the combined total of tips and cash pay reaches at least the full minimum wage in every work week. This threshold is relatively low; most restaurant servers, bartenders, and hospitality workers who regularly receive tips from customers will easily exceed it over the course of a month.
If you make $30 per month or more in tips, the employer may pay as little as $4.35 per hour.
Wage Claims FAQ (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Iowa, if you are a tipped employee making $30 per month or more in tips, your employer may pay you a reduced cash wage of $4.35 per hour instead of the full minimum wage. This lower cash wage works because your tips are expected to make up the difference. However, Iowa law includes a backstop: if in any work week your cash wage plus your tips do not average at least $7.25 per hour, the employer must pay the shortfall. This means the tip credit mechanism lets the employer count your tips toward meeting the minimum wage, but the employer remains responsible for ensuring you receive at least $7.25 per hour in total earnings for every work week, regardless of how much you receive in tips.
If you make $30 per month or more in tips, the employer may pay as little as $4.35 per hour. If in any work week the wage the employer pays you and the tips you receive do not average at least $7.25 per hour, the employer is required to pay the difference.
Wage Claims FAQ (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
Even when an Iowa employer pays the minimum cash wage of $4.35 per hour to a tipped employee, the worker must still receive at least $7.25 per hour in total compensation when tips are combined with that cash wage. This calculation is done on a work-week basis, not averaged over longer periods. If a worker's tips plus the $4.35 hourly cash wage fall short of $7.25 per hour in any given work week, the employer must make up the difference by increasing the cash portion of the pay. This protection ensures that tipped employees in Iowa never earn less than the full minimum wage, regardless of fluctuations in customer tipping patterns or slow business periods. The employer bears the risk of low tip income, not the worker.
If in any work week the wage the employer pays you and the tips you receive do not average at least $7.25 per hour, the employer is required to pay the difference.
Wage Claims FAQ (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Wage Claims FAQ (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing)
- Minimum cash wage
If you make $30 per month or more in tips, the employer may pay as little as $4.35 per hour.
Other years
Every Iowa Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state