Arkansas tipped minimum wage (2026)
Arkansas sets a tipped cash wage of $2.63/hr — above the federal $2.13 — with employers allowed to count up to $8.37/hr of your tips toward the $11.00/hr minimum.
How Arkansas compares
At $2.63/hr, Arkansas ranks 28th of the 47 states with a single published tipped cash wage. No other state pays tipped workers exactly $2.63/hr.
Tips have to cover 76% of your $11.00/hr minimum here. On a shift where they don't, the shortfall is your employer's to pay — but only if you can show what you actually made.
Thirty hours on the schedule guarantees $78.90 before tips, $15.00 more than the same week would guarantee under the federal $2.13 floor.
Nearest rates on either side: Pennsylvania at $2.83 and West Virginia at $2.62.
Cross a border and the base wage changes: Missouri ($7.50) pays more than Arkansas. The widest gap is Missouri, $4.87/hr higher — $146.10 a week on a 30-hour schedule, for the same job.
What's different about tipped work in Arkansas
Arkansas sets its own $11.00 minimum, well above the federal floor, but leaves the tipped cash wage at $2.63 — so the $8.37 tip credit is wider than the entire minimum wage in a neighbouring state like Tennessee.
The number that actually matters
Official wage tables lean on reported pay and miss most cash tips, so your real hourly — cash plus card, minus tip-out — lives only in your own records. That's the number that tells you whether a shift was worth it, and the one you'll need at tax time.
Simulate a Arkansas shift
Legal minimums are the floor. Enter a real shift — your actual hourly is what decides whether the night was worth it.
Federal tipped minimum cash wage is $2.13/hr — but many states require more, and if tips don't bring you to the full minimum wage ($7.25 federal), your employer must make up the difference. Enter your state's tipped minimum as the base wage for an accurate number.
Quick answers
What is the tipped minimum wage in Arkansas?＋
Employers in Arkansas must pay tipped workers a cash wage of at least $2.63/hr, and tips must bring total pay to at least $11.00/hr. Figures as of July 1, 2026 (US DOL).
Can my Arkansas employer take a tip credit?＋
Yes, up to $8.37/hr — but only if your tips actually cover the gap. If they don't, the employer must make up the difference.
What if my tips don't reach the full minimum wage?＋
Federal law (FLSA) requires your employer to make up the difference whenever cash wage + tips falls below the applicable minimum wage for the pay period. Track every shift so you can prove a shortfall.
Source: U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division (July 1, 2026). Federal floor: $2.13 cash / $7.25 total. Not legal advice — local ordinances (city minimum wages) may set higher rates.
Compare with other states
Working out what a shift actually paid you? Run it through the tips-to-hourly calculator — base pay plus tips, minus tip-out, divided by the hours you really worked.
TipScan reads your checkout slip and computes your real hourly every shift — with Arkansas's wage rules built in. Free, no ads.
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