2025 North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2025 North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2025-01-01Source: Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2024
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2024.
| Item | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers in North Carolina that pay tipped employees
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in North Carolina remains $2.13 per hour for 2025.
Common questions
- What is the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in North Carolina?
- Employers must pay tipped employees at least $2.13 per hour in cash wages. If an employee's tips combined with the $2.13 cash wage do not equal at least the full minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
- Can an employer pay less than $2.13 per hour to a tipped employee?
- No. Employers must pay more than the $2.13 hourly cash wage if the employee's tips do not bring total compensation up to the full minimum wage.
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, a tipped employee is someone whose job regularly brings in tips totaling more than a certain monthly amount. This definition determines whether an employer may pay the lower cash wage and apply a tip credit toward the minimum wage. If your tips in a typical month stay at or below that threshold, your employer must pay you the full minimum wage in cash and cannot count any tips toward that obligation. Workers in North Carolina who regularly earn tips above that amount—such as servers, bartenders, and bellhops—meet the definition and may be paid the $2.13 minimum cash wage, provided the employer follows the other notice and recordkeeping rules for tipped workers.
For employers who have “tipped employees,” employers are permitted to take a credit for a certain amount of tips earned by their employees toward the employers’ payment of the minimum wage.
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In North Carolina, if a tipped employee's tips plus the $2.13 hourly cash wage do not add up to the state minimum wage for a given pay period, the employer must make up the difference. The law requires that tipped employees be notified in advance and be permitted to retain all tips, and requires that the employer maintains accurate and complete records of tips received by each employee and such tips must be certified by tipped employees monthly or for each pay period. This means the employer cannot shift the risk of slow business onto the worker; it is the employer's responsibility to ensure that every tipped employee in North Carolina earns at least the full minimum wage in combined cash wages and tips for every hour worked.
In North Carolina, an employer MUST pay at least $2.13 an hour to tipped employees as long as each employee receives enough in tips to make up the difference between the wages paid and the minimum wage ($7.25).
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In North Carolina, before an employer may take a tip credit toward the minimum wage, it must give tipped employees advance notice. The law requires that tipped employees be notified in advance and be permitted to retain all tips, and requires that the employer maintains accurate and complete records of tips received by each employee and such tips must be certified by tipped employees monthly or for each pay period. An employer that fails to provide this advance notice or to keep the required records cannot count tips toward the minimum wage obligation and must instead pay the full state minimum wage in cash. Workers in North Carolina who have not received this notice should contact the North Carolina Department of Labor.
However, for an employer to be able to count tips as wages and take a tip credit towards the minimum wage, the law requires that tipped employees be notified in advance and be permitted to retain all tips, and requires that the employer maintains accurate and complete records of tips received by each employee and such tips must be certified by tipped employees monthly or for each pay period.
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
North Carolina employers must follow whichever minimum wage rule—state or federal—provides greater protection to employees. For tipped workers in North Carolina, this means paying at least the $2.13 per hour cash wage. If federal law changes to require a higher cash wage for tipped employees, North Carolina employers must comply with that higher standard. Similarly, if North Carolina state law establishes a higher minimum cash wage or more favorable tip credit rules than federal law, employers must follow the state requirements. The principle is that employees receive the benefit of whichever law gives them more protection, whether that comes from state or federal regulations.
The minimum wage in North Carolina is currently $7.25 an hour. Employers doing business in North Carolina are required to pay at least $7.25 per hour to all employees (agricultural and domestic employees are subject to the federal minimum wage).
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In North Carolina, the law requires that tipped employees be notified in advance and be permitted to retain all tips. This means your employer, your manager, and your supervisor may not keep any portion of the tips you earn. Tips belong to the employee who received them, and an employer may not use your tips to offset its payroll costs, deduct tips for register shortages or breakage, or divert tips to managers or supervisors. If an employer violates this rule, it may lose the right to take a tip credit and could be liable for the full minimum wage for all hours worked. Workers in North Carolina who believe their employer has kept their tips should contact the North Carolina Department of Labor.
However, for an employer to be able to count tips as wages and take a tip credit towards the minimum wage, the law requires that tipped employees be notified in advance and be permitted to retain all tips, and requires that the employer maintains accurate and complete records of tips received by each employee and such tips must be certified by tipped employees monthly or for each pay period.
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In North Carolina, tip pooling is permitted as long as the tipped employees retain at least 85 percent of the tips they receive. This means that employers may require tipped workers to share a portion of their tips with other employees, but the pool must leave at least 85 percent of all tips with the tipped employees who originally received them. The employer must maintain accurate and complete records of the tips received and the amount of tips earned under the tip pooling arrangement. This rule generally applies to businesses covered by the North Carolina Department of Labor for minimum wage purposes—typically those with less than $500,000 in gross sales. Tip pooling arrangements that do not meet this 85 percent threshold may violate state law.
In businesses that are covered by NCDOL for minimum wage (generally businesses that make less than $500,000 in gross sales), tip pooling is permitted as long as the tipped employees retain at least 85 percent of the tips they receive, which means the employer must maintain accurate and complete records of the tips received and the amount of tips earned under the tip pooling arrangement.
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In North Carolina, an employee who performs both tipped and non-tipped work for the same employer is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server. For the time spent on non-tipped duties—such as cleaning, prep work, or restocking—the employer must pay the full minimum wage in cash and may not apply the $2.13 cash wage or a tip credit. The employer must track the time spent in each role separately; if it cannot distinguish the two, the tip credit may be disallowed for the entire period. This means workers in North Carolina who split their time between serving and other tasks must receive the full minimum wage for all hours spent on non-tipped work.
For employers who have “tipped employees,” employers are permitted to take a credit for a certain amount of tips earned by their employees toward the employers’ payment of the minimum wage.
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
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 Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
- Minimum cash wage
In North Carolina, an employer MUST pay at least $2.13 an hour to tipped employees as long as each employee receives enough in tips to make up the difference between the wages paid and the minimum wage ($7.25).
Other years
Every North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state