CashoutTipped minimum wage / District of Columbia
District of Columbia tipped minimum wage
What employers must pay
In the District of Columbia, the minimum wage is $18.40 an hour. An employer can pay a tipped employee as little as $10.30 an hour in cash, as long as tips bring the total to at least $18.40. The difference, $8.10, is the tip credit.
Who counts as a tipped employee: anyone who regularly gets tips as part of the job (DC sets no dollar amount).
If your cash wage plus tips comes up short of $18.40 an hour in a workweek, your employer has to make up the difference.
What changes next
The District of Columbia adjusts its minimum wage on July 1, 2027. The new amount had not been published when this page was checked on October 15, 2026. Each July 1 the minimum goes up with local prices. In 2027 the tipped cash wage stays at 56 percent of the minimum. It rises to 60 percent on July 1, 2028, and reaches 75 percent by 2034.
Tip pooling and service charges
Tips must be kept by the employee, but pooling is allowed among employees who customarily and regularly get tips, such as servers, bussers, counter staff, valets and service bartenders. Managers, cooks, chefs, dishwashers and janitors may not be in a valid pool.
Restaurants must disclose a mandatory service charge before guests order, and if the charge does not go to staff they must say it is not a gratuity.
Overtime
Time and a half after 40 hours a week, with no daily overtime. For tipped workers the overtime rate is the cash wage plus half of the full $18.40 minimum.
Taxes on your tips
The District of Columbia taxes wage income, and tips are wages, so its income tax applies to your tips. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply. The federal tip deduction can cut the income tax part: see how the No Tax on Tips deduction works.
Check a week's pay
Enter one workweek to see whether your cash wage plus tips reached the District of Columbia's minimum of $18.40 an hour.
You reached the minimum this week.
You came up short. Your employer owes you at least
If you are underpaid
Start by comparing your pay stubs with your own record of hours and tips. If the numbers don't add up, you can file a complaint with the DC Department of Employment Services, Office of Wage-Hour: how to file. You can also call the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, at 1-866-487-9243.
Sources
- DC DOES, 2026 Minimum Wage Increase Notice
- DC DOES, Office of Wage-Hour for employees (claims and overtime)
- DC DOES, Tipped Employee FAQ (tip pooling under D.C. Code 32-1003(g))
- Washingtonian, DC Council votes to slow down and cap tipped wage increases (July 28, 2025)
- Fox Rothschild, D.C. hospitality employers must disclose mandatory service fees
- U.S. DOL WHD, Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (revised July 1, 2026)
