North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Current year
The 2026 North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Compared with 2025
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2025.
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in North Carolina. 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 $2.13 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in North Carolina. 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 North Carolina in 2026?
- $2.13 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 North Carolina. 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 North Carolina, the federal definition applies: a tipped employee is someone whose occupation regularly brings in more than $30 a month in tips. If your job in a restaurant, hotel, or similar setting means customers tip you as part of the norm, you fall under this rule. Only tips you actually receive count toward that $30 threshold and toward the tip credit your employer may claim. If your role does not customarily produce that level of tips, you are not a tipped employee under the FLSA and your employer must pay you the full minimum wage without using a tip credit. This matters in North Carolina because it determines whether your employer can pay you the lower cash wage of $2.13 per hour or must pay the full minimum wage from the start.
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 North Carolina, the federal tip credit rules apply. An employer must pay a tipped worker at least $2.13 per hour in direct cash wages. On top of that, the employer can claim a tip credit equal to the difference between that cash wage and the full minimum wage. This means the employer counts a portion of the tips you receive from customers toward meeting its minimum wage obligation. The maximum tip credit available is $5.12 per hour, which is the gap between the $2.13 cash wage floor and $7.25. However, only tips you actually receive count toward this calculation. Your employer must be able to show each workweek that your cash wages plus your tips together reach at least the full minimum wage. If they fall short in any workweek, the employer must add money to close the gap. The $2.13 minimum cash wage is the lowest your employer in North Carolina can pay you directly before the tip credit applies.
An employer must pay a tipped worker at least $2.13 per hour under the FLSA. 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. The maximum tip credit that an employer can currently claim is $5.12 per hour: ($7.25 - $2.13 direct (or cash) wage = $5.12).
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 North Carolina, if you are a tipped employee and your employer takes a tip credit, the employer must verify each workweek that your direct cash wages plus your tips together equal at least the full minimum wage. If your tips combined with the employer's direct cash wages do not reach the minimum hourly wage in any given workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This protection applies on a workweek-by-workweek basis, so a slow week with fewer tips cannot be averaged against a busier week. The employer bears the responsibility for ensuring the shortfall is covered; it is not optional or left to the employee to request. For workers in North Carolina receiving the $2.13 cash wage, this rule means that no matter how low your tips fall in a particular week, you are still guaranteed at least the full minimum wage for every hour you worked that week.
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 North Carolina, before an employer can take a tip credit, it must inform you of specific facts about how the credit works. The employer must tell you the amount of the direct cash wage it is paying you, which must be at least $2.13 per hour. It must also tell you the additional amount it is claiming as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $5.12. The employer must explain that the credit cannot exceed the tips you actually receive, that all your tips belong to you except for a valid tip pooling arrangement, and that the tip credit will not apply unless you have been told all of these things. The notice can be given orally or in writing. If the employer fails to give you this information before taking the credit, it loses the right to use the tip credit at all. This means the employer would owe you the full minimum wage for every hour you worked, regardless of the tips you received.
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 North Carolina, when state law and the federal FLSA set different standards for tipped employees, the employer must follow whichever rule is more protective of workers. For example, if North Carolina requires a higher cash wage than the federal floor of $2.13 per hour, the employer must pay that higher amount. Similarly, if North Carolina prohibits the tip credit altogether, the employer must pay the full minimum wage without counting tips toward it. This means you should always compare North Carolina law with the federal rules to determine which gives you the greater protection. Your employer cannot pick the rule that is more favorable to the business; it must apply the one that gives you more money or better safeguards. Even though this Fact Sheet is a federal document, the principle of following the more protective standard applies to every tipped worker in North Carolina.
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 North Carolina, the FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees' tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. This rule applies regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit. Your employer may not require you to hand over your tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager, even if you receive at least the full minimum wage directly from the employer and the employer takes no tip credit at all. Managers and supervisors are broadly defined under the rule, and the prohibition extends to business owners who hold a significant equity stake and actively manage the business. A manager or supervisor may only keep tips they receive directly from a customer for service they personally and solely provided. For example, a restaurant manager who serves their own tables may keep tips from those customers but cannot participate in a tip pool to collect other employees' tips.
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. An employer may not require an employee to give their tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager, even where a tipped employee receives at least the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25) per hour in wages directly from the employer and the employer takes no tip credit.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In North Carolina, if your employer takes a tip credit and pays you the $2.13 cash wage, it can require you to participate in a tip pool, but that pool is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This is called a traditional tip pool. Eligible participants include waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. Your employer must notify you of any required tip pool contribution amount. The employer may only take a tip credit for tips you ultimately receive after the pool distributes them. The employer itself may not receive any money from the tip pool, and managers or supervisors are also barred from participating. There is no federal limit on how much of your tips you can be required to contribute to a valid traditional tip pool. If your employer pays you the full minimum wage without taking a tip credit, different rules apply and non-tipped employees like dishwashers and cooks may also be included.
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 North Carolina, if you work two different jobs for the same employer, such as a hotel maintenance worker who also serves 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 work. For the hours you work in the other occupation, such as maintenance, no tip credit can be taken by your employer. This means your employer must pay you the full minimum wage for all hours you spend performing the non-tipped occupation. The two occupations are treated separately. Your employer cannot blend the tips from your server job with your maintenance hours to justify paying you the lower cash wage across the board. This protection matters because some employers try to apply the tip credit to all hours worked by an employee who does both tipped and non-tipped work, but the law requires a clear separation between the two roles.
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. The worker is employed in two occupations, and no tip credit can be taken for their hours of employment in their occupation as a maintenance person.
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
North Carolina 13 $7.25 $5.12 $2.13 More than $20
By year
Every published year
12 years on record, 2026 back to 2015. Each year links to its own page, its own document and its own verification date.