2021 Texas Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2021 Texas Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2021-01-01Source: Texas Guidebook for Employers: Especially for Texas Employers (Texas Workforce Commission)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2020
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2020.
| Item | 2020 | 2021 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Texas employers who take a tip credit against the wages of tipped employees
What changed this year, and why
Texas's minimum cash wage for tipped employees was $2.13 per hour in 2021.
Common questions
- What was the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Texas in 2021?
- In 2021 a Texas employer that took a tip credit had to pay a tipped employee a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour. Texas adopts the federal minimum wage, so the tip credit an employer may claim is the difference between that cash wage and the federal minimum wage.
- What happens if tips do not bring a tipped employee in Texas up to the minimum wage?
- The employer must make up the difference. A cash wage of $2.13 per hour plus the tips the employee actually receives has to equal at least the applicable minimum wage for every hour worked, and where it does not the employer owes the balance.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Texas, 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. That $30 threshold is the only gate: if your tips in a typical month stay at or below it, your employer cannot treat you as tipped and must pay you the full minimum wage without using any tip credit. If you clear it, your employer may pay you the federal cash wage of $2.13 per hour and apply a tip credit against the rest of the minimum wage, subject to the notice and make‑up rules described elsewhere on this page. Only tips you actually receive are counted toward that $30 and toward the tip credit; promised or shared tips you never take in do not qualify.
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 Texas, the tip credit is the difference between what your employer pays you in direct cash wages and the federal minimum wage. Under federal law, your employer must pay you at least $2.13 per hour in cash and may claim a tip credit for the gap between that cash wage and the $7.25 minimum wage, up to a maximum credit of $5.12 per hour. The employer can only take this credit if, each workweek, your cash wages plus the tips you actually received add up to at least $7.25 per hour. Only tips you actually take in count toward the calculation; promised or hypothetical tips do not.
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 Texas, if your tips plus the cash wages your employer pays you do not add up to at least the federal minimum wage in any workweek, your employer must make up the difference. This means your employer cannot simply pay you the $2.13 per hour cash wage and assume your tips will cover the rest. Each week, your employer must verify that your total earnings from cash wages and tips combined reach at least $7.25 per hour. If they fall short, your Texas employer is legally required to pay you the additional amount needed to bring you up to the minimum wage floor.
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 Texas, before your employer can take a tip credit, it must give you specific notice about how the credit works. Your employer must tell you: the cash wage it is paying you (at least $2.13 per hour), the tip credit amount it is claiming (up to $5.12), that the credit cannot exceed your actual tips, that you keep all your tips except for a valid tip pool, and that the credit will not apply unless you have been informed of these rules. Your employer can give this notice orally or in writing. If your Texas employer fails to provide this information, it cannot claim the tip credit and must pay you the full minimum wage directly.
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 Texas, when state law differs from federal law on tipped employees, your employer must follow whichever rule is most protective to you as the employee. This means if Texas law provides a higher cash wage, better tip protections, or prohibits the tip credit altogether, your employer must comply with the Texas standard rather than the federal rule. For example, if Texas required a higher minimum cash wage than the federal $2.13 per hour, your employer would have to pay you that higher amount. You are entitled to whichever standard gives you greater protection under the law.
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 Texas, your employer, your manager, and your supervisor are prohibited from keeping any portion of your tips, whether they take a tip credit or not. This rule applies regardless of whether your employer pays you the full minimum wage directly or uses a tip credit. Your employer cannot require you to hand over your tips to them, to a supervisor, or to a manager, even if you are receiving at least the full federal minimum wage in direct wages. The only exception is that a manager or supervisor may keep tips they receive directly from customers for service they personally and solely provided, but they cannot participate in a tip pool or take tips from other employees.
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 Texas, when your employer takes a tip credit, it can require you to participate in a tip pool, but that pool must be limited to employees in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. This means only traditionally tipped workers like waiters, bellhops, bussers, counter personnel who serve customers, and service bartenders can be included in the pool. Your Texas employer cannot force you to share your tips with cooks, dishwashers, or other back-of-house staff who do not customarily receive tips. The employer must also notify you of any required tip pool contribution amount, and can only take a tip credit based on the tips you actually retain after the pool distribution.
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 Texas, if you work two different jobs for the same employer — for example, as a maintenance worker at a hotel and also as a server — you are a tipped employee only with respect to your work as a server, assuming you customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for that server work. Your employer cannot take a tip credit against your hours worked in the non-tipped occupation. For those hours, your Texas employer must pay you the full minimum wage directly. The rule applies when you are genuinely employed in two separate occupations, not when you perform related duties within a single tipped occupation, such as a server who also cleans tables, toasts bread, or makes coffee as part of their normal serving duties.
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.
Texas Guidebook for Employers: Especially for Texas Employers (Texas Workforce Commission)
- Minimum cash wage
The FLSA sets minimum wage levels (minimum wage of $7.25 per hour (the Texas minimum wage is the same), a minimum cash wage of $2.13 per hour for tipped employees, overtime pay at one and a half times the regular rate of pay, and a minimum salary level of $684 per week for salaried exempt employees)
Other years
Every Texas Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state