Maryland Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Current year
The 2026 Maryland Tipped Minimum Wage is $3.63.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Maryland. The cash wage is the part of the minimum wage the employer pays directly. The rest may be met by the employee's tips, up to the maximum tip credit the same row of the table states, and the table sets out separately how much an employee must receive in tips to count as a tipped employee at all.
What changed this year, and why
The Wage and Hour Division's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, in the version last revised July 1, 2026, gives $3.63 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in Maryland. The table carries only its own revision date and never dates the rate, so this page reports the figure as in force as of that revision rather than claiming an effective date no document states.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum wage in Maryland in 2026?
- $3.63 per hour in cash wages. That is what the Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, last revised July 1, 2026, gives as the minimum cash wage for a tipped employee in Maryland. Tips make up the remainder of the applicable minimum wage, up to the maximum tip credit stated in the same row.
- What if tips do not bring the employee up to the full minimum wage?
- The employer pays the difference. A tip credit is a credit against the minimum wage the employer already owes, not a lower wage in its own right, so an employee whose cash wage and tips together fall short of the applicable minimum wage is owed the shortfall in wages.
- Where does the figure on this page come from?
- From Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees, the table the Wage and Hour Division publishes by state, in the version last revised July 1, 2026. The row it was read from is quoted on this page, and the snapshot it was verified against is the one captured for this record.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Tips needed per hour takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Maryland, you count as a tipped employee under federal law if you work in an occupation where you customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This definition matters because it determines whether your employer is allowed to pay you the lower tipped minimum cash wage and claim a tip credit against your tips. If your tips in a given month fall to $30 or less, or if your occupation is not one where tipping is customary and regular, you are not considered a tipped employee for that work, and your employer must pay you the full applicable minimum wage without using the tip credit. Only tips you actually receive are counted toward this threshold and toward the tip credit. So for a Maryland server, bartender, bellhop, or similar occupation where tips are routine, reaching more than $30 per month in tips is what places you in the tipped-employee category and allows your employer to use the special tipped-wage rules.
Under the FLSA, a tipped employee is an employee engaged in an occupation in which they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Maryland, a tip credit lets your employer count a portion of the tips you receive toward its obligation to pay you the minimum wage. The employer pays you a direct cash wage of $3.63 per hour, and the tip credit makes up the gap between that cash wage and the full minimum wage you are owed. Under federal law, the tip credit equals the difference between the cash wage the employer pays you and the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour. In practice, this means your employer does not have to pay you the full minimum wage out of its own funds as long as your cash wage plus your tips together reach at least the minimum wage in every workweek. Your employer can only count tips you actually receive - not projected or expected tips. If the combined total of the $3.63 hourly cash wage and your tips falls short of the minimum wage in any workweek, your employer is responsible for covering the gap, which is addressed in the next section.
An employer can take an FLSA tip credit equal to the difference between the direct wage, or the cash wage it pays directly to the tipped employee, and the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In Maryland, if your tips combined with your employer's direct cash wage do not add up to at least the full minimum wage in any workweek, your employer must pay the shortfall out of its own pocket. The rule is calculated workweek by workweek, not averaged over a longer period. So even if you had a very good week earlier in the pay period, a slow week where tips were light still requires your employer to bring your total earnings up to the minimum wage for that particular week. This protection ensures that the risk of slow business falls on the employer rather than on you. Your employer is required to track both the cash wage it pays you and the tips you actually receive, and to verify the combined amount reaches the minimum wage before issuing your paycheck. If it does not, the employer must make up the difference - and if it fails to do so, you are owed back wages for that workweek.
If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct (or cash) wages do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour in each workweek, the employer must make up the difference.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In Maryland, before your employer can take a tip credit against your wages, it must give you specific notice about the arrangement. The notice must include: the amount of the cash wage the employer is paying you; the additional amount the employer claims as a tip credit; a statement that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips you actually receive; a statement that all your tips are yours to keep except for a valid tip pooling arrangement among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips; and a statement that the tip credit will not apply unless you have been informed of all these provisions. Your employer may deliver this notice orally or in writing, but it must be provided before the tip credit is applied. If the employer fails to give you this information, it loses the right to take the tip credit altogether and must pay you the full minimum wage without counting your tips. This means that in Maryland, if your employer never told you about these tip credit provisions, you may be entitled to the full minimum wage for every hour you worked.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA: the amount of the direct (or cash) wage the employer is paying a tipped employee, which must be at least $2.13 per hour; the additional amount claimed by the employer as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $5.12 (the difference between the minimum required direct (or cash) wage of $2.13 and the current minimum wage of $7.25); that the tip credit claimed by the employer cannot exceed the amount of tips actually received by the tipped employee; that all tips received by the tipped employee are to be retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips; and that the tip credit will not apply to any tipped employee unless the employee has been informed of these tip credit provisions.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
In Maryland, when state law and federal law set different rules for tipped employees, your employer must follow whichever standard gives you the greater protection. Maryland's minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $3.63 per hour, which is higher than the federal cash wage. Because Maryland's requirement is more protective, your employer in Maryland must pay you at least $3.63 per hour in cash wages, not the lower federal amount. Some states go further and prohibit the tip credit entirely, requiring employers to pay the full minimum wage with no credit for tips. Where that is the case, the state rule controls. The principle is straightforward: you always get the benefit of the rule that puts more money in your pocket. For Maryland tipped workers, this means the state's higher cash wage floor applies regardless of what the federal baseline says, and your employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees.
When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In Maryland, your employer, your manager, and your supervisor may not keep any portion of your tips, regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit. This prohibition applies whether the employer tries to take your tips directly, requires you to hand them over, or attempts to funnel them through a tip pool that includes managers or supervisors. Even if your employer pays you the full minimum wage in cash and does not use a tip credit at all, your tips still belong to you. The rule covers managers and supervisors broadly - anyone whose primary duty is managing the enterprise or a department, who regularly directs the work of at least two other employees, and who has hiring or firing authority. The only exception is that a manager may keep tips given directly by a customer for service the manager personally and solely provided. For Maryland tipped workers, this means your tips are legally yours, and no one above you in the workplace can claim a share.
Regardless of whether an employer takes a tip credit, the FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Maryland, if your employer takes a tip credit, any mandatory tip pool you are required to join must be limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This is known as a traditional tip pool. Eligible participants include occupations such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders - roles where tipping is a normal and expected part of the job. Your employer may not include back-of-house workers like cooks or dishwashers in this type of pool, and may not allow managers or supervisors to participate. The employer must also notify you of any required tip pool contribution amount, may only take a tip credit for tips you ultimately retain, and may not keep any portion of the pooled tips for itself. If your employer instead pays you the full minimum wage in cash without using a tip credit, it may operate a broader pool that includes non-tipped employees. But when the tip credit is in effect in Maryland, the pool must stay within occupations where tips are customary and regular.
An employer that takes a tip credit can require tipped employees to contribute tips only to a tip pool which is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips, such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel (who serve customers), bussers, and service bartenders.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Maryland, if you work two distinct jobs for the same employer - for example, as a maintenance worker and also as a server - you are a tipped employee only with respect to your employment as a server, assuming you customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for that server work. No tip credit can be taken for your hours worked in the other occupation, such as maintenance. This means your employer must pay you at least the full minimum wage for every hour you spend doing non-tipped work, and can only apply the lower tipped cash wage and tip credit to the hours you actually spend serving. The rule prevents employers from using the tipped wage for jobs where tips are not a regular part of the compensation. This situation is different from a server who spends part of their time on related duties like cleaning tables, making coffee, or washing dishes - those are considered part of the server occupation. For Maryland workers holding dual roles at one employer, the key question is whether each role is a separate occupation, and the tip credit applies only to the tipped one.
In such a situation the employee, if they customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for their work as a server, is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
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.
Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)
- Minimum cash wage
Maryland $15.00 $11.37 $3.63 More than $30