Ohio tipped minimum wage (2026)
Ohio sets a tipped cash wage of $5.50/hr — above the federal $2.13 — with employers allowed to count up to $5.50/hr of your tips toward the $11.00/hr minimum.
Note: Rates apply to employers with annual gross receipts of $405,000 or more. For employees of employers with gross annual sales of less than $405,000, the state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
How Ohio compares
At $5.50/hr, Ohio ranks 18th of the 47 states with a single published tipped cash wage. No other state pays tipped workers exactly $5.50/hr.
Tips have to cover 50% 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 $165.00 before tips, $101.10 more than the same week would guarantee under the federal $2.13 floor.
Nearest rates on either side: South Dakota at $5.93 and Michigan at $5.49.
Ohio pays at least as much as every state it borders (Indiana $2.13, Kentucky $2.13, Michigan $5.49, Pennsylvania $2.83, West Virginia $2.62), so crossing a state line does not raise your base wage.
What's different about tipped work in Ohio
Ohio's tipped cash wage is written as exactly half the full minimum, and both climb automatically every January under a 2006 voter-approved constitutional amendment — no legislative vote required.
The state rate only reaches you if your employer takes in more than $405,000 a year. Below that threshold — and for workers under 16 — the floor drops to the federal $7.25 with a $2.13 cash wage.
Where it's heading: Rates rose 2.8% on January 1, 2026 to $11.00 full and $5.50 tipped, and the gross-receipts threshold moved from $394,000 to $405,000.
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 Ohio 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 Ohio?＋
Employers in Ohio must pay tipped workers a cash wage of at least $5.50/hr, and tips must bring total pay to at least $11.00/hr. Figures as of July 1, 2026 (US DOL).
Can my Ohio employer take a tip credit?＋
Yes, up to $5.50/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 Ohio's wage rules built in. Free, no ads.
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