What’s the minimum wage for servers in Florida?

Florida at a glance

As of the U.S. Department of Labor table revised July 1, 2026. Next change: DOL: the Florida minimum wage is scheduled to reach $15.00 on September 30, 2026. The new tipped cash wage wasn’t published in the sources checked. Your city may set a higher rate.

What’s different in Florida

DOL says Florida’s minimum has been stepping up each September 30 until it reaches $15.00, and that last step lands on September 30, 2026. The $10.98 cash wage belongs to the $14.00 year. We don’t have a published tipped rate for after the increase, so we’re not going to guess one. Look at your first stub dated after September 30 and confirm the cash wage went up.

The tip credit here is small next to the federal one. Your employer pays $10.98 an hour directly and may count only $3.02 of your tips toward the minimum, far less than a federal employer paying $2.13 can claim. The tipped-employee test is more than $30 a month, the same as federal.

Florida doesn’t tax personal income at all, per the state Department of Revenue, so there’s no state return and your tips only face federal tax. BLS showed a May 2025 median of $17.38 an hour for Florida servers, an employer estimate that folds in reported tips.

Example shift

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

1. Wages: $10.98 × 6 = $65.88.
2. With tips: $65.88 + $120 = $185.88, or $30.98 an hour.
3. If your tips for the week don’t bring you to $14.00 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 Florida was $17.38 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?