Pennsylvania tipped minimum wage (2026)
Pennsylvania sets a tipped cash wage of $2.83/hr — above the federal $2.13 — with employers allowed to count up to $4.42/hr of your tips toward the $7.25/hr minimum.
Note: Tipped employee defined as receiving $135 per month in tips.
How Pennsylvania compares
At $2.83/hr, Pennsylvania ranks 27th of the 47 states with a single published tipped cash wage. No other state pays tipped workers exactly $2.83/hr.
Tips have to cover 61% of your $7.25/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 $84.90 before tips, $21.00 more than the same week would guarantee under the federal $2.13 floor.
Nearest rates on either side: New Mexico at $3.00 and Arkansas at $2.63.
Cross a border and the base wage changes: New Jersey ($6.05), Ohio ($5.50), Maryland ($3.63) pay more than Pennsylvania. The widest gap is New Jersey, $3.22/hr higher — $96.60 a week on a 30-hour schedule, for the same job.
What's different about tipped work in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania still runs on the federal $7.25 with a $2.83 cash wage, so a server's paycheck is often consumed entirely by payroll tax — the 80/20 rule is the main thing standing between a shift of side work and being paid $2.83 for it.
Pennsylvania's 2022 rules put real limits on the $4.42 tip credit: you only count as tipped if you make $135 a month in tips (raised from $30), and an employer must pay the full $7.25 for any time spent on non-tip-producing side work beyond 20% of the workweek.
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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania?＋
Employers in Pennsylvania must pay tipped workers a cash wage of at least $2.83/hr, and tips must bring total pay to at least $7.25/hr. Figures as of July 1, 2026 (US DOL).
Can my Pennsylvania employer take a tip credit?＋
Yes, up to $4.42/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 Pennsylvania's wage rules built in. Free, no ads.
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