---
title: "Server Minimum Wage in Hawaii (2026)"
url: https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/hawaii/server-wage
language: en
publisher: TipMax (Entermaurs Incorporated)
date_published: 2026-09-23
last_verified: 2026-09-23
---

# What’s the minimum wage for servers in Hawaii?

**Short answer:** Hawaii’s minimum wage is $16.00 an hour. A restaurant can pay servers $14.75 and use a $1.25 tip credit, but only under a condition: the combined amount you get from wages and tips must be at least $7.00 more than the applicable minimum wage. If you don’t clear that bar, the employer owes the full $16.00.

## Hawaii at a glance

| Rule | Hawaii | Federal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Minimum wage | $16.00 | Federal: $7.25 |
| Tipped cash wage (paid before tips) | $14.75 | Federal: $2.13 |
| Can tips count toward minimum wage? | Only under state conditions | DOL: Yes, conditional: "permissible if the combined amount … is at least $7.00 more than the applicable minimum wage" |

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

## What’s different in Hawaii

In Hawaii the tip credit comes with a test attached. DOL’s footnote says the credit is permissible only if your employer pay plus tips is “at least $7.00 more than the applicable minimum wage.” On a weak night that doesn’t happen, and the employer loses the right to pay you $14.75.

Even when the condition is met, the credit is tiny: $1.25 an hour, next to a federal system that starts servers at $2.13. Your cash wage stays close to the full minimum either way.

The DOL cell for Hawaii’s tipped-employee definition is blank, so the table doesn’t restate a monthly tips threshold for the state. BLS reported a median of $29.99 an hour for Hawaii servers in May 2025, and that figure is estimated by employers and includes tips they report, so it isn’t a measure of take-home pay.

## Example shift

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

1. Wages: $14.75 × 6 = **$88.50**.
2. With tips: $88.50 + $120 = **$208.50**, or **$34.75 an hour**.
3. If your tips for the week don’t bring you to $16.00 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 Hawaii was **$29.99** in May 2025. BLS counts tips in this figure, but the numbers come from employers’ estimates.

Check your own week: https://www.tipmaxapp.com/tools/tipped-wage-check

## Official sources

- [U.S. Department of Labor: Minimum wages for tipped employees (state table)](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped)
- [U.S. Department of Labor: State minimum wage laws](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state)
- [BLS: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, waiters and waitresses (35-3031)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353031.htm)
- [Hawaii labor agency](http://www.labor.hawaii.gov/)

## Last verified

September 23, 2026. Checked the U.S. Department of Labor state tables (revised July 1, 2026) and BLS OEWS May 2025.

## About TipMax

Hawaii only allows the $1.25 tip credit when your wages plus tips beat the minimum by at least $7.00, which you can check only if you track tips hour by hour.

TipMax is an iPhone app for servers and bartenders that tracks tips and tip-outs and turns a restaurant menu into study flashcards.

Download TipMax free: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tipmax-study-track-earn/id6744850146

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TipMax Answers explains public government guidance on pay and workplace rules in plain English for tipped workers. It is **not legal, tax, or accounting advice**. Rules change and local rules can add to them. Confirm with the agency linked on this page or a qualified professional. TipMax the app helps you track tips and pay; it doesn’t enforce wage law or decide disputes.