Tennessee Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Current year
The 2026 Tennessee Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Tennessee. 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 Tennessee. 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee. 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
Under federal law, a tipped employee in Tennessee is someone who works in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This $30 threshold is the defining line: if you earn less than that in tips on a typical month, your employer cannot classify you as a tipped employee and cannot apply the lower cash wage. The rule looks at the nature of the occupation, not just a single busy month. Only tips actually received by you count toward this determination—tips that never reach your hands do not establish your status. Once you meet this definition, your employer may be permitted to pay you the reduced cash wage of $2.13 per hour, provided all other requirements for taking a tip credit are satisfied. If your occupation does not customarily produce that level of tips, the full minimum wage applies to every hour you work, regardless of whether customers occasionally leave something extra.
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 Tennessee, your employer can take a tip credit equal to the difference between the direct cash wage it pays you and the federal minimum wage. Your employer must pay you at least $2.13 per hour in direct wages. The tip credit represents the gap between what your employer pays you directly and what the minimum wage requires. Only tips you actually receive count toward determining whether you qualify as a tipped employee and toward applying the tip credit. Your employer must ensure that your direct wages plus your tips equal at least the minimum wage for each workweek. If they do not, your employer must pay the shortfall. The tip credit cannot exceed the amount of tips you actually receive.
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 Tennessee, your employer must ensure you receive at least the full federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour in each workweek when combining your direct cash wages and tips. If your tips plus the direct wages your employer pays you do not equal the minimum hourly wage in a given workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This means your employer cannot rely on you receiving enough tips to reach the minimum wage if that does not actually happen. The employer is responsible for paying you at least the minimum wage for every hour you work, regardless of how much you earn in tips.
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 Tennessee, before your employer can take a tip credit, it must provide you with specific information about your wages and tips. Your employer must tell you the amount of the direct cash wage it is paying you. It must inform you that all tips you receive are yours to keep except for valid tip pooling arrangements. It must tell you that the tip credit cannot exceed the amount of tips you actually receive. Your employer can provide this information orally or in writing. If your employer fails to give you this required information before taking the tip credit, it loses the right to take the tip credit at all, and must pay you the full minimum wage for all your hours worked.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA:
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
In Tennessee, when state law differs from federal law, your employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees. This means if Tennessee law provides better protections than federal law for tipped workers, your employer must follow the Tennessee rule. For example, if Tennessee requires a higher cash wage than the federal minimum of $2.13 per hour, or if it prohibits employers from taking a tip credit entirely, your employer must comply with whichever standard gives you greater protection. You are entitled to the benefit of whichever law—state or federal—provides you with higher wages or better protections.
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 Tennessee, regardless of whether your employer takes a tip credit, federal law prohibits employers from keeping any portion of your tips for any purpose. This applies whether your employer keeps the tips directly or through a tip pool. Your employer may not require you to give your tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager. This protection applies even if your employer pays you at least the full minimum wage directly and takes no tip credit at all. Your tips belong to you, and neither your employer nor your managers or supervisors can take them.
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 Tennessee, if your employer takes a tip credit, it can require you to participate in a tip pool, but the pool must be limited to employees in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. This includes workers such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. Your employer cannot force you to share tips with employees who do not customarily receive tips, such as cooks or dishwashers. Your employer must notify you of any required tip pool contribution amount. The employer can only take a tip credit for tips you ultimately receive after the pool is distributed, and may not keep any of the tips in the pool for itself.
Traditional Tip Pooling: 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 Tennessee, if you work two different jobs for the same employer, you may be a tipped employee in one job but not the other. For example, if you work as a maintenance person at a hotel and also work as a server, you are a tipped employee only with respect to your employment as a server if you customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for that server work. Your employer cannot take a tip credit for your hours worked as a maintenance person. You must be paid the full minimum wage for all your hours worked in the non-tipped occupation. This rule prevents employers from applying the tip credit to work that does not involve receiving tips.
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
Tennessee 11 $7.25 $5.12 $2.13 More than $30