--- title: "How Much Do Servers Make? The BLS Estimate" description: "BLS estimates the median hourly wage for waiters and waitresses was $16.94 in May 2025, tips included. The figures are employer estimates, so your log matters." url: https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/how-much-do-servers-make language: en publisher: TipMax (Entermaurs Incorporated) date_published: 2026-09-23 last_verified: 2026-09-23 --- # How much do servers actually make? **Short answer:** BLS estimates the median hourly wage for waiters and waitresses in the U.S. was **$16.94** in May 2025, and half earned between $13.34 and $22.65. BLS counts tips in this figure, but the numbers come from employers’ estimates, so they may not reflect all the tips servers receive. The federal floor is $2.13 an hour in cash wages, as long as tips bring you to $7.25. Your own log is the only real number for you. ## The numbers **BLS median hourly wage estimate (includes employer-reported tips).** Waiters and waitresses, all U.S., May 2025 data, released May 15, 2026. | | Per hour | | --- | --- | | Lower end of the middle half (25th percentile) | $13.34 | | **Median** | **$16.94** | | Upper end of the middle half (75th percentile) | $22.65 | | What it counts | Wages plus tips, as estimated by employers. It may not reflect all the tips servers receive. | Next to it, the federal floor. Your state may set a higher one. | Federal rule | Per hour | | --- | --- | | Lowest cash wage your employer can pay | $2.13 | | Most your employer can count from your tips (tip credit) | $5.12 | | What your wage plus tips must reach each workweek | $7.25 | **Your own number.** Say your log shows a 30-hour week: $63.90 in wages (30 × $2.13) and $540 in tips you kept after tip-outs. That’s $603.90 ÷ 30 = **$20.13 an hour**. The numbers are made up; yours come from your own shifts. **Not tax or legal advice.** BLS figures are estimates for all servers in the country, not a promise of what any one job pays. ## Plain English ### Where the number comes from The figure is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. It’s an employer survey: BLS asks businesses what they pay each job. BLS’s technical notes say tips are included in the wage. The survey form asks employers of tipped workers to “estimate the earnings (base pay plus tips…)”. The median is the middle: half of servers were estimated to earn more per hour, half less. The 25th and 75th percentiles mark the middle half. OEWS leaves out overtime pay. ### Why it may not match your pay An employer can only estimate tips it sees. Cash tips you take home, and tips nobody reported, may not show up. In at least one state, BLS’s median for servers is exactly the $7.25 federal minimum wage. That’s hard to square with every tip being counted. This is our reading of the numbers, not a BLS statement. The median also mixes every kind of serving job: fine dining and diners, full-time and part-time, busy cities and small towns. Your restaurant, section, and shifts can put you far from the middle in either direction. ### By state, and servers vs bartenders For each state’s cash wage and tip credit next to its BLS estimate, see [Server minimum wage by state](https://www.tipmaxapp.com/answers/server-minimum-wage-by-state). To compare the two jobs, see [Server vs bartender pay](https://www.tipmaxapp.com/answers/server-vs-bartender-pay). ### Why your own log is the only real number No public source measures what you make. BLS publishes employer estimates for a whole occupation. Your pay stub shows your wage and the tips you reported, not the cash you took home. The only full record of your pay is the one you keep: date, hours, wage, cash tips, card tips, and tip-outs for each shift. The IRS already asks you to keep that daily tip record (see [How do I keep track of my tips?](https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/how-to-keep-track-of-tips)). Add your hours and you can work out your real hourly rate for any week, month, or restaurant: wages plus the tips you kept, divided by hours worked. ### The floor under the estimate Under federal law, your employer can pay $2.13 an hour and count up to $5.12 of your tips toward the $7.25 minimum wage. If your wage plus tips falls short in a workweek, your employer must make up the difference. See [What is a tip credit?](https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/what-is-a-tip-credit) When state law is more protective, your employer has to follow it. DOL keeps a [list of state labor offices](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/contacts). ## Common mistakes - Treating the median as what a server “should” make at your restaurant. - Comparing your pay stub with the BLS figure. The stub leaves out cash tips you kept. - Figuring your hourly rate from your best nights only. - Reading the BLS estimate as an average. It’s a median, and the middle half is a wide range. ## Official sources - [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025: Waiters and Waitresses (35-3031)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353031.htm) - [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Technical Notes for May 2025 OEWS Estimates (tips are included in wages)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm) - [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS survey form (employers estimate base pay plus tips)](https://www.bls.gov/respondents/oes/pdf/forms/722000.pdf) - [U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the FLSA ($2.13 cash wage, $5.12 tip credit, $7.25)](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/15-tipped-employees-flsa) - [IRS Publication 531, Reporting Tip Income (daily tip record)](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p531) ## Last verified September 23, 2026. Checked BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates for waiters and waitresses (median $16.94, 25th percentile $13.34, 75th percentile $22.65, pulled from the BLS API), the May 2025 OEWS technical notes and survey form on tips, and DOL Fact Sheet #15 for the federal cash wage and tip credit. **Still open:** BLS doesn’t say how much of servers’ tips its employer estimates capture. BLS updates OEWS once a year; this page uses May 2025 data. ## Related - [What is a tip credit?](https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/what-is-a-tip-credit) - [Why is my server paycheck so small?](https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/server-paycheck-explained) - [How do I keep track of my tips?](https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/how-to-keep-track-of-tips) - [How do I budget when I’m paid in tips?](https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/how-to-budget-on-tips) - [Overtime for tipped employees](https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/overtime-for-tipped-employees) ## How TipMax helps with this The BLS median is a midpoint for the whole country; your own logged wages and tips give you your real hourly rate to set beside it. TipMax is an iPhone app for servers and bartenders that tracks tips and tip-outs and turns a restaurant menu into study flashcards. - See your true hourly rate: wage plus tips. - Log cash and card tips per shift in seconds. - Weekly, monthly, and pay-period totals. Download TipMax free: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tipmax-study-track-earn/id6744850146 --- TipMax Answers explains public IRS and U.S. Department of Labor guidance in plain English for tipped workers. It is **not tax, legal, or accounting advice**. Federal rules are a floor; your state may add its own tip rules. Confirm with IRS.gov, DOL.gov, your state labor agency, or a qualified professional. TipMax the app helps you track tips and tip-outs; it does not file your taxes or decide tip-pool disputes.