Kentucky tipped minimum wage 2026
The Kentucky tipped cash wage is $2.13 per hour. Employers may take a tip credit of up to $5.12 per hour, provided the worker's cash wage plus tips reaches the state minimum of $7.25 per hour for every workweek. [DOL Tipped][KY labor dept.]
Cash wage and tip credit
When tips fall short
If a worker's cash wage plus reported tips do not average to the Kentucky minimum of $7.25 per hour over a workweek, the employer must pay the shortfall. The Tip Credit Checker tool runs the math at /tools/tip-credit. Under the 2021 DOL final rule, time spent on non-tip-producing work above 20 percent of the shift (or 30 continuous minutes) must be paid at the full minimum, not the tip-credited rate. [DOL FS-15]
Background
KRS section 337.275 mirrors the FLSA rate of $7.25. The Kentucky Supreme Court struck down the 2014 Louisville and 2015 Lexington local-wage ordinances in Kentucky Restaurant Association v. Louisville (2016).