What’s the minimum wage for servers in Delaware?

Delaware at a glance

As of the U.S. Department of Labor table revised July 1, 2026. Your city may set a higher rate.

What’s different in Delaware

In Delaware, what the employer pays and what the law guarantees sit far apart. The cash wage of $2.23 is barely above the federal $2.13, yet the full minimum is $15.00, so your tips carry most of the load.

In practice, your paycheck can look almost empty because tips already went home with you. That’s legal here. What isn’t legal is ending a week with less than $15.00 an hour once cash wage and tips are added together. You qualify as tipped under the same more-than-$30-a-month test the federal rules use.

BLS reported a median of $17.73 an hour for Delaware servers in May 2025. Employers estimate that number and it includes the tips they report, so it tells you about the market, not about your own week.

Example shift

Say you work 6 hours and walk out with $120 in tips (illustrative numbers; use your own).

1. Wages: $2.23 × 6 = $13.38.
2. With tips: $13.38 + $120 = $133.38, or $22.23 an hour.
3. If your tips for the week don’t bring you to $15.00 an hour, federal law says your employer has to make up the difference.

What servers earn: BLS estimates the median hourly wage for waiters and waitresses in Delaware was $17.73 in May 2025. BLS counts tips in this figure, but the numbers come from employers’ estimates, so they may not reflect all the tips servers receive.

Check your own week: Am I being paid at least minimum wage?