What happens if tips do not equal the minimum wage in West Virginia (WV)?
If an employee's tips combined with the direct cash wage of $2.62/hour do not equal at least $8.75/hour for all hours worked, the WV employer must make up the difference.
Calculate take-home pay under the WV statutory minimum wage ($8.75/hr) and West Virginia tipped employee cash wage ($2.62/hr with tip credit), including mandatory tip reporting and FICA.
At the West Virginia statutory minimum wage of $8.75/hour working 40 hours per week ($350 gross/week or $18,200/year), a single worker claiming 1 allowance takes home roughly $312 weekly ($16,212 annually) after federal tax (~$4), 2026 WV state tax (~$7), and FICA ($26.78). In Charleston or Huntington, the weekly city fee reduces net pay by an extra $3 to $5.
West Virginia · 2026 tax year · salaried or hourly
How much and how often you’re paid.
West Virginia state minimum wage is $8.75 per hour for employers with 6 or more employees (W. Va. Code § 21-5C-2).
The cash wage for tipped employees in WV is $2.62 per hour (30% of minimum wage) with a maximum tip credit of $6.13/hr.
Workers earning under $10,000 in taxable income fall into the lowest 2026 WV state tax bracket of 2.11%.
Full-time minimum wage earners in Charleston pay ~0.86% of their weekly gross pay toward the $3 City Service Fee.
1Select Hourly and verify the $8.75/hr statutory minimum rate.
2Enter regular hours (40 for full-time, 20-30 for part-time).
3Add reported cash and credit card tips under Extra Earnings if in food service.
4Observe line-by-line deductions and final take-home pay.
If an employee's tips combined with the direct cash wage of $2.62/hour do not equal at least $8.75/hour for all hours worked, the WV employer must make up the difference.
West Virginia's state rate of $8.75/hr applies to any employer with 6 or more non-exempt employees in a single location, taking precedence over the lower federal $7.25 rate.