Montana tipped minimum wage (2026)
Montana doesn't use a single tipped wage — rates depend on your occupation or region. State requires employers to pay tipped employees full state minimum wage before tips. Rate depends on business size: $10.85 for businesses with gross annual sales over $110,000; $4.00 for businesses not covered by the FLSA with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less.
Note: State requires employers to pay tipped employees full state minimum wage before tips. Rate depends on business size: $10.85 for businesses with gross annual sales over $110,000; $4.00 for businesses not covered by the FLSA with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less.
What's different about tipped work in Montana
Montana bans the tip credit outright — unusual company for a state with no large city driving the policy, and it means every tip is on top of a full minimum wage.
Montana's rate depends on the size of the business, and neither tier allows a tip credit.
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 Montana 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 Montana?＋
Montana has regional or industry-specific rates rather than a single number. State requires employers to pay tipped employees full state minimum wage before tips. Rate depends on business size: $10.85 for businesses with gross annual sales over $110,000; $4.00 for businesses not covered by the FLSA with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less. (US DOL, July 1, 2026.)
Can my Montana employer take a tip credit?＋
No. Montana requires the full state minimum wage in cash before tips — your tips are 100% on top.
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 Montana's wage rules built in. Free, no ads.
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