What’s the minimum wage for servers in New Mexico?
The short answer
New Mexico at a glance
| Minimum wage | $12.00 | Federal: $7.25 |
|---|---|---|
| Tipped cash wage (paid before tips) | $3.00 | Federal: $2.13 |
| Can tips count toward minimum wage? | Yes | DOL: Yes |
| Who counts as tipped | More than $30 in tips a month | |
As of the U.S. Department of Labor table revised July 1, 2026. Your city may set a higher rate.
What’s different in New Mexico
The split here is wide. Your cash floor of $3.00 is only a little above the federal $2.13, while the full minimum is $12.00. Under this setup tips carry most of every hour you work, which puts real weight on the employer’s duty to top you up in a slow week.
You count as a tipped employee once you get more than $30 a month in tips, according to the DOL table. That’s the same monthly cutoff federal law uses.
A simple way to check a paycheck: multiply your hours by $12.00, then compare that total with your cash wages plus tips for the same period. If the second number is smaller, you were owed more. The BLS May 2025 median for the state’s waiters and waitresses was $17.75 an hour, an employer-reported estimate that counts tips.
Example shift
Say you work 6 hours and walk out with $120 in tips (illustrative numbers; use your own).
- Wages: $3.00 Ă— 6 = $18.00.
- With tips: $18.00 + $120 = $138.00, or $23.00 an hour.
- If your tips for the week don’t bring you to $12.00 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 New Mexico was $17.75 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?
Official sources
Last verified
. Checked the U.S. Department of Labor state tables (revised July 1, 2026) and BLS OEWS May 2025.