Average Tip Percentage
There are three different numbers that all get called the average tip, and they do not agree. Etiquette says 18–20%. Card data puts the average near 19%. Ask Americans directly and 57% say they leave 15% or less.
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The calculator defaults to 19% — roughly the average measured on restaurant card transactions.
Why There Is No Single Average Tip
Search for the average tip percentage and you will get answers ranging from 15% to 20%, all stated with confidence. They are not contradicting each other by accident — they are measuring different things.
Etiquette guidance says what you ought to leave. Payment data records what was actually charged. Surveys record what people say they leave. Those three produce genuinely different numbers, and the gap between them is the most interesting thing about this question.
The short version: the advice is 18–20%, the card terminals record around 19%, and most Americans, asked directly, say they leave 15% or less. This page sets out all three and explains why they diverge.
The Three Numbers, Side by Side
Each figure below is accurate. They differ because of what each one counts.
| What it measures | Figure | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| What you should leave | 18–20% | Etiquette guidance and card terminal defaults |
| What card transactions record | About 19% | Restaurant point-of-sale data reported by Toast |
| What people say they leave | 57% leave 15% or less | Pew Research Center survey, November 2023 |
The survey and the card data are the pair worth understanding. They are not measuring the same population.
What Americans Say They Actually Tip
The Pew Research Center asked Americans directly what they leave for an average sit-down restaurant meal. The distribution is not what the 20% default on a card terminal suggests.
| Tip left for an average sit-down meal | Share of Americans |
|---|---|
| 15% or less | 57% |
| 18% | 12% |
| 20% or more | 25% |
| Nothing at all | 2% (included in the 15% or less figure) |
So the single most common answer is not 20%, and it is not 18%. A clear majority of Americans put themselves at or below 15% — which is the figure most etiquette guides now describe as the bare minimum.
Why the Card Data Says 19% and the Survey Says 15%
Both are measured properly. They cover different things, and understanding the difference tells you more than either number alone.
Card data only sees card transactions at restaurants using that payment system. Those are disproportionately full-service restaurants with suggested-tip screens, and the suggestions themselves start at 18% or 20%. People who pay cash, tip nothing, or eat where no terminal asks are largely invisible to it.
Surveys see everyone, including the people who tip nothing — but they record what people say rather than what they did, and self-reporting on a socially charged question has obvious limits in both directions.
The honest reading is that both are right about their own slice. If you are sitting in a full-service restaurant paying by card, the people around you are probably tipping close to 19%. Across all Americans and all meals, the typical tip is lower than the guidance implies.
How Often People Tip at All, by Service
The percentage matters less than whether a tip happens. The Pew survey found tipping is close to universal for a sit-down meal and genuinely optional almost everywhere else.
| Service | Tip always or often |
|---|---|
| Sit-down restaurant | 92% (81% always) |
| Haircut | 78% |
| Food delivery | 76% |
| Drinks at a bar | 70% |
| Taxi or rideshare | 61% |
| Coffee shop | 25% |
| Fast casual restaurant | 12% |
The bottom two rows are the answer to the tipping-fatigue question. Only a quarter of Americans tip at a coffee counter and only one in eight at a fast casual restaurant, so declining the prompt there is not unusual behaviour — it is the majority position.
How the Standard Moved from 10% to 20%
The recommended tip has risen in visible steps. Guidance in 1922 put it at 10%. By the late twentieth century, 15% had become standard. Today the common recommendation is 18–20%, and card terminals routinely open at 20%.
Two forces drove that. The federal minimum cash wage for tipped employees has been $2.13 an hour since 1991, so in states that allow the tip credit, tips are not a bonus on a wage — they largely are the wage, and the gap up to the minimum is filled by customers.
The second is the payment terminal. When a screen offers three buttons, the middle one becomes the default and the lowest becomes the new floor. Businesses set those figures, and the floor has drifted from 15% to 18% and in places to 20%. That is a change in the interface, not in what service costs to provide.
What Counts as Normal, by Setting
Ranges below are what people generally consider low, standard and generous in each situation. They are customary practice, not rules, and they are US figures.
| Service | Low | Standard | Generous |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant, table service | 15% | 18–20% | 25% |
| Bar, per drink | $1 | $2 | $3+ |
| Food delivery | $3 or 15% | 18% | 20%+ |
| Taxi or rideshare | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Hair salon or barber | 15% | 20% | 25% |
| Nail salon | 15% | 20% | 25% |
| Tattoo artist | 15% | 20% | 25% |
| Massage, spa | 15% | 20% | 25% |
| Hotel housekeeping | $2/night | $3–5/night | $10/night |
| Counter service | Nothing | Nothing or change | 10% |
Outside the United States the standard column drops sharply. In most of Europe rounding up or 5–10% is the top of the range, and in Japan tipping is not practised at all.
When Less than 15% Is Justified
Below 15% reads as a deliberate statement in an American restaurant, so it is worth using it that way rather than by accident.
The situations that genuinely warrant it are narrow: a server who was rude, who disappeared for the whole meal, or who got the order badly wrong and did nothing to fix it. Slow food, a full kitchen and a crowded dining room are not the server's doing.
If service was bad enough to tip low, say something to the manager as well. A reduced tip communicates nothing on its own — the server may never learn what went wrong, and the restaurant certainly will not.
Is Your Tip Above or Below Average?
Enter your own bill in the calculator above and compare. On a $100 subtotal, here is what each percentage comes to and where it sits against the figures on this page.
| Tip on $100 | Where that sits |
|---|---|
| $25 — 25% | Generous; the top quarter of tippers by self-report |
| $20 — 20% | The recommended standard; 25% of Americans say they leave this or more |
| $19 — 19% | Roughly the card-transaction average at full-service restaurants |
| $18 — 18% | The usual first suggestion on a card terminal; 12% of Americans report this |
| $15 — 15% | The floor of the US range, and what a majority report leaving |
| $10 — 10% | Below the US range, but normal in much of Europe |
None of these is wrong in the abstract. What reads as low or generous depends entirely on where you are — the tipping around the world table on the home page covers the countries where 10% is the top of the range rather than the bottom.
Common Mistakes When Reading Tipping Statistics
This topic produces more bad numbers than almost any other consumer question. Four things to watch for.
How average-tip figures go wrong:
- Treating a recommendation as a measurement. "The average tip is 20%" is usually restating advice, not reporting data.
- Quoting point-of-sale data as if it covered everyone. It covers card transactions at restaurants using that system, which skews high.
- Ignoring the pre-tax and post-tax difference. A 20% tip calculated on a post-tax total is closer to 21.6% of the subtotal at an 8% tax rate.
- Comparing across countries without saying so. A global average tip figure is close to meaningless when the norm ranges from 0% to 20%.
Sources
- Pew Research Center, Services Americans do and don't tip for, and how much (November 2023)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the FLSA
Survey figures are from the Pew Research Center, published November 2023. Card-transaction averages are as reported from restaurant point-of-sale data and cover card payments at participating restaurants rather than all meals. Customary ranges reflect common US practice and are not legal requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average tip percentage?
It depends which average you mean. Restaurant card data puts the average near 19%, etiquette guidance says 18–20%, and 57% of Americans surveyed by Pew Research say they leave 15% or less for an average sit-down meal.
What do most Americans actually tip?
A majority — 57% — say they leave 15% or less for an average sit-down restaurant meal. Twenty-five percent say they leave 20% or more, and 12% say 18%.
Is 15% still an acceptable tip?
Yes. It is the floor of the customary range rather than an insult, and it is also what most Americans report leaving. Eighteen to twenty percent is the more common recommendation.
Is 20% a good tip?
Yes, and it puts you in the most generous quarter of tippers by self-reported behaviour. It is also the easiest to work out: find 10% by moving the decimal one place left, then double it.
Why do card machines suggest 20% or more?
The suggested percentages are set by the business, not the card network, and the lowest option has drifted upward over time. Every terminal has a custom or no-tip option somewhere on the screen.
Do people tip at coffee shops?
Mostly not. Only 25% of Americans say they always or often tip at a coffee shop, and just 12% at a fast casual restaurant. Declining the prompt there is the majority position.
Why do different sources give different average tips?
Payment data only covers card transactions at restaurants using that system, which skews toward full-service venues with suggested-tip screens. Surveys cover everyone including non-tippers but rely on self-reporting.
What was the standard tip in the past?
Guidance put it at 10% in 1922 and 15% by the late twentieth century. The current 18–20% recommendation is a relatively recent development.
Why has the expected tip gone up?
The federal tipped minimum cash wage has been $2.13 an hour since 1991, so tips function as wages rather than a bonus. Payment terminals have also raised their default suggestions over time.
When is it acceptable to tip below 15%?
When a server was rude, absent for the whole meal, or got the order badly wrong and did nothing about it. Kitchen delays and a crowded dining room are not the server's fault.
Related Calculators
The reference tables, and where the money goes after it leaves the table.
- Tip chart Every bill from $5 to $500, printable as a wallet card
- Gratuity calculator What gratuity means, and how a service charge differs
- Tax and tip calculator Tip before or after tax, and what the terminal really charges
- Tip pool calculator Split a shift's tips across staff by hours, points or role
- Delivery tip calculator 15–20% with a $3–5 floor — and the fee is not a tip