---
title: "Server Minimum Wage in Maryland (2026)"
url: https://www.tipmaxapp.com/us/answers/maryland/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 Maryland?

**Short answer:** Maryland servers must be paid a cash wage of at least $3.63 an hour, while the state minimum wage is $15.00. Your employer can count up to $11.37 of your tips toward that minimum. If your hourly cash wage plus tips ends up below $15.00 for the pay period, the restaurant has to pay you the difference.

## Maryland at a glance

| Rule | Maryland | Federal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Minimum wage | $15.00 | Federal: $7.25 |
| Tipped cash wage (paid before tips) | $3.63 | Federal: $2.13 |
| Can tips count toward minimum wage? | Yes | DOL: Yes |

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

## What’s different in Maryland

Maryland keeps a low cash wage while running a high minimum. At $3.63 you get a bit more per hour than the federal $2.13, but the state guarantee of $15.00 dwarfs the federal $7.25. The $11.37 tip credit bridges those two numbers.

Because so much of the guarantee depends on tips, your stub alone won’t tell you whether you were paid correctly. You need your hours and your tips side by side to see if the week averaged at least $15.00. Maryland uses the familiar more-than-$30-a-month test to decide who counts as tipped.

Employers told BLS the median for Maryland servers was $17.67 an hour in May 2025, a figure that includes the tips they reported. Use it as a rough market marker, not a paycheck target.

## Example shift

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

1. Wages: $3.63 × 6 = **$21.78**.
2. With tips: $21.78 + $120 = **$141.78**, or **$23.63 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 Maryland was **$17.67** 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)
- [Maryland labor agency](https://www.labor.maryland.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

Maryland lets restaurants count $11.37 an hour in tips against the $15.00 minimum, so a shift-level tip log is how you check that the guarantee held.

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.