Massachusetts tipped minimum wage (2026)
Massachusetts sets a tipped cash wage of $6.75/hr — above the federal $2.13 — with employers allowed to count up to $8.25/hr of your tips toward the $15.00/hr minimum.
Note: Tipped employee defined as receiving more than $20 in tips monthly.
How Massachusetts compares
At $6.75/hr, Massachusetts ranks 15th of the 47 states with a single published tipped cash wage. No other state pays tipped workers exactly $6.75/hr.
Tips have to cover 55% of your $15.00/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 $202.50 before tips, $138.60 more than the same week would guarantee under the federal $2.13 floor.
Nearest rates on either side: Vermont at $7.21 and New Jersey at $6.05.
Cross a border and the base wage changes: Vermont ($7.21) pays more than Massachusetts. The widest gap is Vermont, $0.46/hr higher — $13.80 a week on a 30-hour schedule, for the same job.
What's different about tipped work in Massachusetts
At $15.00 full and $6.75 service rate, Massachusetts runs one of the widest tip credits in the Northeast — $8.25 an hour of a server's legal wage is expected to come from the table, not the employer.
Where it's heading: Voters settled this in November 2024: Question 5 would have raised the service rate from $6.75 to the full minimum by 2029, and it lost roughly 64% to 36%. The $6.75 service rate stays.
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 Massachusetts shift
Legal minimums are the floor. Enter a real shift — your actual hourly is what decides whether the night was worth it.
Example amounts to start. Enter your actual base wage and shift, including paid sidework time.
This is earnings before taxes and other payroll deductions, not cash paid out tonight. Include each tip once, even when card tips arrive later through payroll.
Use your actual base wage from your pay record. The starting value is only an example. This calculator does not determine the minimum wage required for your job.
Quick answers
What is the tipped minimum wage in Massachusetts?＋
Employers in Massachusetts must pay tipped workers a cash wage of at least $6.75/hr, and tips must bring total pay to at least $15.00/hr. Figures as of July 1, 2026 (US DOL).
Can my Massachusetts employer take a tip credit?＋
Yes, up to $8.25/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 Massachusetts's wage rules built in. Free, no ads.
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