Ohio minimum wage and tipped wage for restaurants (2026)

If you run a restaurant in Ohio, your payroll starts with two numbers: the wage you pay a cook or a dishwasher, and the cash wage you pay a server who earns tips. Ohio sets both through its own constitutional rule, and they move every January 1. This guide explains the 2026 figures, who is covered, how the tip credit works in practice and how to avoid the mistakes that cost owners back pay. It is general information, not legal advice, and the Ohio Department of Commerce is the place to confirm any number before you set a rate.

What is the Ohio minimum wage in 2026?

According to the Ohio Department of Commerce, the state minimum wage for non-tipped employees rose to $11.00 an hour on January 1, 2026. Ohio's constitution ties the minimum to inflation, so it is adjusted every January 1, and the Department of Commerce publishes the new figure in the fall. That means a rate you set in January can be out of date a year later. Put a reminder in your calendar for late September each year to check the next figure.

What is the tipped wage?

For tipped employees, the 2026 cash wage is $5.50 an hour, as long as the employee's tips bring total pay up to at least the full $11.00 for every hour worked. If tips in a given workweek fall short, you owe the difference. The tip credit is the gap between the cash wage and the minimum, and it is optional: you can pay more cash wage than the minimum required. Many owners find that paying a higher cash wage makes hiring easier on quiet days, when tips are thin.

Which businesses does the state rate cover?

The state minimum applies to employers with annual gross receipts above $405,000 in 2026, a figure that is adjusted each year. Employers at or below that threshold, and workers aged 14 and 15, fall under the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour instead. A very small cafe may therefore follow the federal rule, under which the cash wage for tipped staff is $2.13 an hour with a federal tip credit. If your sales are close to the line, ask your accountant or the Department of Commerce which rule you follow, and recheck when sales grow.

How do you know a server is a tipped employee?

Under federal rules, a tipped employee is one who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. Servers, bartenders and bussers who share in tips usually qualify, while cooks and dishwashers do not. If you pay a tip credit for a role that does not really receive tips, you owe the full wage. Keep job descriptions clear, and keep staff in the right category.

What notice and records do you need?

Tell each tipped employee, ideally in writing, that you are using the tip credit, what the cash wage is, and that tips must make up the difference. Keep a signed copy. Keep time records for every hour worked and records of reported tips for each pay period. If an investigator asks for records, you want them ready in an hour, not a week.

How do you calculate make-up pay?

Each workweek, add the cash wages paid and the tips the employee reported, divide by the hours worked, and compare the result with the full minimum wage. If it is lower, you owe the shortfall for that week. Most payroll systems can run this check, but only if tips are entered correctly, so make it a weekly habit to review the report for staff who had a slow week.

What about overtime?

Overtime for a tipped employee is calculated on the full minimum wage, not on the cash wage, and the tip credit is subtracted afterwards. Many payroll defaults get this wrong. Ask your payroll provider to show you the formula on a real pay stub for a 45-hour week, and confirm it before you rely on it.

What should you do before next January?

Check the Department of Commerce announcement each fall, update pay rates in your payroll system before the first pay period of the year, and send staff a short notice of the new rates. Then review your menu pricing and labor plan, since a wage increase of a few percent across a whole team shows up in the weekly numbers.

Is your restaurant paying for every empty table?

Wages are the cost you control least, which makes the other side of the sum more important: how many guests come through the door on the shifts you are already paying for. Mosey is a food-first app where diners search by dish and rate what they ate, and where independent restaurants and cafes get tools for their own page, menu and regular guests. For a business that cannot cut labor on a quiet Tuesday, the useful part is that your food can be found by the people who search for it, with your customers staying yours.

More guides for your business:

• How to get more customers for your Ohio restaurant in 2026
• Ohio sales tax on restaurant meals: what owners collect
• Ohio food safety certification: Level One and Level Two explained

More in the US guides for food businesses.