Wisconsin tipped minimum wage (2026)
Wisconsin sets a tipped cash wage of $2.33/hr — above the federal $2.13 — with employers allowed to count up to $4.92/hr of your tips toward the $7.25/hr minimum.
Note: A cash wage of $2.13/hour may be paid to a tipped 'opportunity employee' (under 20 years old, employed 90 or fewer consecutive days; minimum wage for opportunity employees is $5.90/hour).
How Wisconsin compares
At $2.33/hr, Wisconsin ranks 30th of the 47 states with a single published tipped cash wage. No other state pays tipped workers exactly $2.33/hr.
Tips have to cover 68% 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 $69.90 before tips, $6.00 more than the same week would guarantee under the federal $2.13 floor.
Nearest rates on either side: West Virginia at $2.62 and Delaware at $2.23.
Cross a border and the base wage changes: Minnesota ($11.41), Illinois ($9.00), Michigan ($5.49), Iowa ($4.35) pay more than Wisconsin. The widest gap is Minnesota, $9.08/hr higher — $272.40 a week on a 30-hour schedule, for the same job.
What's different about tipped work in Wisconsin
The $0.20 between Wisconsin's tipped wage and the federal one is the entire difference state law makes here, and for a worker's first 90 days under 20 it disappears too.
Wisconsin has a second, lower tipped rate: an 'opportunity employee' — under 20 and in their first 90 consecutive days with the employer — can be paid the federal $2.13 instead of the state's $2.33.
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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin?＋
Employers in Wisconsin must pay tipped workers a cash wage of at least $2.33/hr, and tips must bring total pay to at least $7.25/hr. Figures as of July 1, 2026 (US DOL).
Can my Wisconsin employer take a tip credit?＋
Yes, up to $4.92/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 Wisconsin's wage rules built in. Free, no ads.
Start free — works in your browser →