How much do Minnesota servers earn from tips?: study

By FOX 9 Staff
Published  November 25, 2024 7:00pm CST
FOX 9

The Brief

    • A new study by Square examined servers' incomes in Minnesota, finding they earn about 22% of their wages from tips, slightly below the national average.
    • States with the highest tip-wage percentages include Wyoming (33%), South Dakota (31%), Alaska (31%), and Kansas (30%).
    • The study may not include cash tips, a significant factor in total server earnings.

(FOX 9) - A new study looked at how much income servers in Minnesota earn from tips.

What to know

The data from Square, a service that accepts payments for small businesses, was included in the company's fall report looking at wages in the service industry.

Using data from its payroll services, Square compared wages to average tip amounts to determine how much money servers on average earned from tips. The study puts Minnesota slightly below average, with servers earning 22 percent of their wages from tips.

The top states for tip-wage percentage were Wyoming (33%), South Dakota (31%), Alaska (31%), and Kansas (30%).

Context

It should be noted that South Dakota, Wyoming, and Kansas all allow lower minimum wages for tipped workers. Just this year, Alaska required its servers to be paid minimum wage before tips.

It's also unclear if Square's study accounted for cash tips.