Tipped Minimum Wage in Texas (2026): What Servers Make
Texas follows the federal tipped-wage system to the letter: a $2.13 cash wage with tips doing the rest. Here is exactly how that works — the credit, the top-up, the overtime math — and where it quietly shortchanges people.
By the TippedPay editorial team · Updated $1
Key numbers at a glance
| Rule | Federal | Texas (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Full minimum wage | $7.25 | $7.25 — same |
| Tipped cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 — same |
| Maximum tip credit | $5.12 | $5.12 — same |
| Top-up when tips fall short | Required every workweek | Required every workweek |
How Texas tipped pay works
Texas follows the federal system. The employer pays a $2.13/hour cash wage and may take a tip credit of up to $5.12 against the $7.25 federal minimum — your tips legally cover that gap. If cash wage plus tips average at least $7.25 for every hour of the workweek, the employer owes nothing beyond the $2.13. The workweek is the unit of measurement: no averaging across weeks, and within one week a great Saturday cannot subsidize a dead Tuesday.
The safety net is the top-up rule. If your tips don't bring you to $7.25 in a given workweek, the employer must pay the difference — every hour of every week lands at full minimum or better. Numbers make it concrete: 30 hours at $2.13 is $63.90 from the employer, and the weekly floor is 30 × $7.25 = $217.50. Keep $450 in tips and you're at $513.90 — well clear. Keep only $120 and cash plus tips is $183.90, short by $33.60, which must appear on the check as make-up pay. Our server paycheck calculator runs this check for your own hours and tips in seconds.
Because Texas adopts the federal numbers rather than setting its own, the federal rules are the operative rules — which makes knowing them cold worth real money. Start with the side-by-side:
Texas vs. the federal rule
| Rule | Federal | Texas (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Full minimum wage | $7.25 | $7.25 — same |
| Tipped cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 — same |
| Maximum tip credit | $5.12 | $5.12 — same |
| Top-up when tips fall short | Required every workweek | Required every workweek |
| Overtime basis | Full minimum, not the cash wage | Full minimum — OT cash rate ≈ $5.76 |
| Tip pools | Employees only, never managers | Employees only, never managers |
The table is short because there is nothing to compare — Texas is the federal system. That cuts both ways: the protections (weekly top-up, full-minimum overtime basis, the ban on managers in pools) are exactly as strong as federal law, and no stronger.
What Texas servers should watch
The top-up, checked weekly. Slow weeks are precisely when the tip credit system is supposed to catch you — and precisely when employers forget. Track your hours and kept tips per workweek; if the average comes in under $7.25, the difference is owed as make-up pay, not favors.
Overtime math. Overtime in Texas is based on the full minimum, not the $2.13 cash wage: the OT cash rate = cash wage + 0.5 × full minimum ≈ $5.76/hour. An employer paying "time-and-a-half on $2.13" ($3.20) is shorting every overtime hour — the overtime calculator shows the exact number for your week.
Tip pool membership. Tip pools are legal for employees only, never managers. A supervisor or manager taking a share of the pool is the classic violation, and it's the one that voids the employer's tip credit — jumping every affected server's cash wage to full minimum.
Your real number. A $2.13 base with $28/hour in tips is a $30/hour job in disguise. Compute effective hourly — total wages plus kept tips, divided by hours — before comparing this job to any other offer.
FAQ
What is the tipped minimum wage in Texas in 2026?
$2.13 per hour in cash wages. Texas follows the federal system: employers may take a tip credit of up to $5.12 against the $7.25 federal minimum, with tips covering the gap.
Can a Texas employer pay servers $2.13 an hour?
Yes, as the cash wage — but only if tips (or an employer top-up) bring you to at least $7.25 for every hour of every workweek. The $2.13 is never the whole legal wage.
What happens if my tips don't reach $7.25 an hour in Texas?
The employer must top up the difference for that workweek, bringing your total to full minimum for every hour. The check happens weekly — a strong week cannot cover a slow one.
How is overtime calculated for tipped employees in Texas?
Overtime is based on the full minimum, not the $2.13 cash wage. The OT cash rate = cash wage + 0.5 × full minimum, about $5.76 per overtime hour, plus your tips.
Can managers take part in a tip pool in Texas?
No. Tip pools are legal for employees only — managers and supervisors may never keep any share of tipped employees' tips.
How do I calculate my real weekly pay in Texas?
Cash wage × hours, plus the tips you kept, checked against the $7.25-per-hour weekly floor. A paycheck calculator that runs the top-up rule automatically is the fastest way.