While Emily Post recommends leaving a 15 to 20% tip at a restaurant, the nation’s top tippers leave an average 16.07% gratuity at most, according to a new Lending Tree survey.
Americans are spending billions on dining out — $78 billion in 2023 alone — with the average household spending a little over half (55.7%) of its monthly food budget on restaurants and takeout meals. That includes paying for tips.
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As Americans shell out more in tips, many are complaining of tip fatigue, a challenge The New York Times highlighted.
Here’s a look at where the most generous tippers live, and the tension between those who say tip culture is getting out of hand — and those who depend on tips to get by.
The nation’s top tippers
According to Lending Tree, New Hampshirites are the most generous tippers. Here’s where Americans leave the most lavish gratuities, along with the average tip in each region.
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1. New Hampshire: 16.07%
2. District of Columbia: 12.65%
3. South Carolina: 11.17%
4. Minnesota: 10.11%
5. North Carolina: 9.75%
6. Washington: 9.51%
7. Vermont: 9.31%
8. Nebraska: 9.12%
9. Rhode Island: 8.54%
10. Maine: 8.18%
While D.C. is home to great tippers, it also tops the nation’s list for residents who dine out, with an annual per-capita spend of $10,291.
On the other end of the scale are frugal Utah residents — who leave the smallest tip in America, an average 4.09% tip. Mississippi and Idaho residents are also tight with tips, leaving 5.10% or less. Californians are relatively penny-pinching tipsters, as well, ranking 31st in the nation with an average 6.15% gratuity.
But are these Americans cheap — or on the leading edge of tip fatigue?
Tipping fatigue
“I don’t think consumers want to be stingy, but everybody’s budget is tight and they’re trying to make trade-off decisions,” Amanda Belarmino, an assistant professor in the University of Nevada’s hospitality school, told The New York Times.
The restaurant software company Toast writes about consumers’ perception of ‘Tipflation’ as more cafés and fast-casual restaurants ask for tips and that the suggested tip rate appears to be rising.
Toast suggests the pressure to tip restaurant workers more during the pandemic may be part of the backlash against tip culture, but tipping amounts on digital point-of-sale screens are another source of tip fatigue.
Pymnts, which covers e-commerce and online payment news, reports that one in three consumers believe expectations to tip have gotten "out of hand."
A Pew Research survey found that only 24% of consumers like the tip amount suggestion. The Pew study also found that 72% of respondents believe tipping is expected in more places today than five years ago.
Why tipping matters
While the cost of living is rising, it’s still good etiquette to tip, especially when you’ve received good service.
It’s also vital for your servers, who depend on tips to get by, given the federal minimum hourly wage for tipped employees is just $2.13. Tips are intended to make up the shortfall in their take-home pay.
The federal regulation also mandates that if a restaurant employee doesn’t make enough tips to add up to at least $7.25/hour, the restaurant must pay them extra to make up the difference.
Toast reports that while many states and cities are beginning to require higher wages for tipped employees, the minimum annual salary for a server is just $15,080 for 40 hours per week of work — just a little over the 2023 poverty line of $14,891.
The industry average wage for a full-time server is $31,000, barely above the $29,960 poverty line for a family of four.
How to balance tipping with your budget
If your food and entertainment budget has crept up, do your best to trim it down and save your money on dining experiences you really enjoy.
A weekly trip to a fast-food restaurant that you do out of convenience rather than pleasure might be worth giving up if it means you can dine out with friends once a month.
Also, if you feel increasingly pressured to tip, you might want to check in with the tipping habits of others across the nation:
- 92% of Amercians tip when eating at sit-down restaurants
- 76% tip when ordering food delivery
- 70% tip when buying a drink at a bar
- 25% tip when buying a coffee
- 12% tip when eating at a fast-casual restaurant
Making a point to visit places you love more often will help you to feel better about tipping, and see it as a tribute to great service rather than a duty that takes a bite out of your budget.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
