States with no tip credit
Seven US states require the full state minimum wage to be paid in cash before any tips. In those jurisdictions, an employer cannot take any portion of a tipped employee's tips toward the wage owed; tips belong entirely to the employee, subject to any valid tip-pool arrangement.[DOL Tipped]
AlaskaAK
$14.00 full cash
Alaska: AS 23.10.065(a) bars applying tips as a credit toward the minimum hourly wage.
CaliforniaCA
$16.90 full cash
California: An employer may not use an employee's tips as a credit toward its obligation to pay the minimum wage per hour.
MinnesotaMN
$11.41 full cash
DOL: Adjusted annually
MontanaMT
$10.85 full cash
DOL: $10.85 for businesses with gross annual sales over $110,000; $4.00 for businesses at or below that figure
NevadaNV
$12.00 full cash
Nevada: Single tier. Ballot Question 2 (November 2022) removed the health-benefits tier with effect from 1 July 2024. Source: Office of the Labor Commissioner 2026 Annual Minimum Wage Bulletin, posted 29 June 2026.
OregonOR
$15.55 full cash
DOL: $15.55 standard, $16.80 Portland metro, $14.55 non-urban counties
WashingtonWA
$17.13 full cash
DOL: Adjusted annually
What the ban means in practice
A no-tip-credit ban does not abolish tipping. It changes who bears the wage-floor risk: in tip-credit states the employee carries the risk of a slow shift and the employer must make up only the gap; in no-tip-credit states the employer pays the full hourly rate regardless and tips are pure upside for the worker. Tip pools (sharing tips among customarily-tipped employees) remain legal in all 7 states under their respective rules.