Montana tipped minimum wage (2026)
Montana doesn't use a single tipped wage — rates depend on your occupation or region. State requires employers to pay tipped employees full state minimum wage before tips. Rate depends on business size: $10.85 for businesses with gross annual sales over $110,000; $4.00 for businesses not covered by the FLSA with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less.
Note: State requires employers to pay tipped employees full state minimum wage before tips. Rate depends on business size: $10.85 for businesses with gross annual sales over $110,000; $4.00 for businesses not covered by the FLSA with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less.
What's different about tipped work in Montana
Montana bans the tip credit outright — unusual company for a state with no large city driving the policy, and it means every tip is on top of a full minimum wage.
Montana's rate depends on the size of the business, and neither tier allows a tip credit.
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 Montana 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 Montana?＋
Montana has regional or industry-specific rates rather than a single number. State requires employers to pay tipped employees full state minimum wage before tips. Rate depends on business size: $10.85 for businesses with gross annual sales over $110,000; $4.00 for businesses not covered by the FLSA with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less. (US DOL, July 1, 2026.)
Can my Montana employer take a tip credit?＋
No. Montana requires the full state minimum wage in cash before tips — your tips are 100% on top.
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 Montana's wage rules built in. Free, no ads.
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