Rhode Island tipped minimum wage (2026)
Rhode Island sets a tipped cash wage of $3.89/hr — above the federal $2.13 — with employers allowed to count up to $12.11/hr of your tips toward the $16.00/hr minimum.
How Rhode Island compares
At $3.89/hr, Rhode Island ranks 22nd of the 47 states with a single published tipped cash wage. No other state pays tipped workers exactly $3.89/hr.
Tips have to cover 76% of your $16.00/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 $116.70 before tips, $52.80 more than the same week would guarantee under the federal $2.13 floor.
Nearest rates on either side: Iowa at $4.35 and Maryland at $3.63.
Cross a border and the base wage changes: Massachusetts ($6.75) pays more than Rhode Island. The widest gap is Massachusetts, $2.86/hr higher — $85.80 a week on a 30-hour schedule, for the same job.
What's different about tipped work in Rhode Island
Rhode Island's $3.89 cash wage has not moved with its minimum wage, so as the state climbed to $16.00 the tip credit widened to $12.11 — over 75% of the legal wage riding on the table.
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 Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island?＋
Employers in Rhode Island must pay tipped workers a cash wage of at least $3.89/hr, and tips must bring total pay to at least $16.00/hr. Figures as of July 1, 2026 (US DOL).
Can my Rhode Island employer take a tip credit?＋
Yes, up to $12.11/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 Rhode Island's wage rules built in. Free, no ads.
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