What’s the minimum wage for servers in South Dakota?
The short answer
South Dakota at a glance
| Minimum wage | $11.85 | Federal: $7.25 |
|---|---|---|
| Tipped cash wage (paid before tips) | $5.93 | Federal: $2.13 |
| Can tips count toward minimum wage? | Yes | DOL: Yes |
| Who counts as tipped | More than $35 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 South Dakota
South Dakota links the tipped wage to the minimum instead of picking a separate fixed number. The tip credit is capped at 50% of the applicable minimum, so the cash floor follows the minimum. The minimum itself is adjusted each year by a set formula, so expect your tipped rate to move with it.
The tipped-employee test differs slightly too. The DOL table lists more than $35 a month in tips as the cutoff, a touch above the federal one.
Compared with the federal $2.13, an employer here pays you a good deal more before the first tip. The May 2025 BLS median for waiters and waitresses in South Dakota was $13.94 per hour. That figure comes from employer estimates and counts reported tips, so it describes the market loosely and says nothing certain about your shifts.
Example shift
Say you work 6 hours and walk out with $120 in tips (illustrative numbers; use your own).
- Wages: $5.93 × 6 = $35.58.
- With tips: $35.58 + $120 = $155.58, or $25.93 an hour.
- If your tips for the week don’t bring you to $11.85 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 South Dakota was $13.94 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.