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][EPI Tracker]
AlaskaAK
$13.00 full cash
Ballot Measure 1 (2024) steps the rate to $13.
CaliforniaCA
$16.50 full cash
California bans the tip credit; tipped workers receive the full state minimum in cash per Lab.
MinnesotaMN
$11.13 full cash
Minnesota bans the tip credit; tipped workers receive the full state minimum in cash per Minn.
MontanaMT
$10.85 full cash
Indexed annually under M.
NevadaNV
$12.00 full cash
Question 2 (2022) eliminated the two-tier (health-benefit) system and set a single $12.
OregonOR
$15.05 full cash
Three-tier rate: Portland metro $16.
WashingtonWA
$16.66 full cash
Indexed annually under RCW 49.
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 seven states under their respective rules.