Ask a room of Americans how much they tip and you will get confident, contradictory answers. The published data explains why. Payment records show the average tip at a full-service restaurant running close to 20%, while surveys show most diners describe 15% as their standard. Both are true, because they measure different things. This page compiles the most useful tipping statistics from published studies by Pew Research Center, Bankrate, Toast, and LendingTree, with sources listed in full at the bottom. We did not run our own survey; every figure below comes from one of those sources.
The average tip, measured two ways
Toast, the restaurant point-of-sale company, analyzed the card and digital tips left on its platform in the first quarter of 2026. On transactions where a tip was left, the averages were:
| Restaurant type | Average tip (Toast, Q1 2026) |
|---|---|
| Full-service restaurants | 19.3% |
| Quick-service restaurants | 15.8% |
| All restaurant types | 18.8% |
Those averages have barely moved: Toast reports full-service tips stayed between 19.1% and 19.4% over the past two years, with quick-service tips holding near 15.8% to 16.0%. Cash tips are not included, and the figures cover only restaurants that use Toast, so treat them as a large sample of real checks rather than a census.
Survey answers paint a lower picture. When Pew Research Center asked adults what they would tip for an average meal at a sit-down restaurant, 57% said 15% or less, including 2% who would leave nothing. The single most common answer was exactly 15%, named by 37% of respondents, and 25% said they would tip 20% or more. Bankrate's 2025 survey lands in between: 35% of Americans say they typically tip at least 20% at sit-down restaurants.
A third method shows why definitions matter. LendingTree, analyzing U.S. Department of Agriculture spending data, calculated that Americans spent $77.6 billion on tips for food purchases in 2023. Measured as a share of all food-away-from-home spending, its full-service average works out to 15.02%, lower than Toast's per-check figure because the denominator includes every dollar spent, not just tipped checks.
To see what any of these percentages mean on a real bill, run the numbers with our tip calculator. On a $100 check, the gap between the stated standard and the register data is $15.00 at 15% versus $19.30 at 19.3%.
How often Americans tip, by service
How often people tip depends far more on the setting than on the person. Pew asked adults who use each service how often they tip:
| Service | Always or often tip (Pew, 2023) |
|---|---|
| Sit-down restaurant | 92% |
| Haircut | 78% |
| Food delivery | 76% |
| Drink at a bar | 70% |
| Taxi or rideshare | 61% |
| Coffee shop | 25% |
| Fast-casual restaurant | 12% |
Bankrate asks a stricter question, who always tips, and its 2025 answers run lower on the same services: 70% always tip sit-down servers, 54% always tip hair stylists and barbers, 52% always tip food delivery drivers, 43% always tip taxi and rideshare drivers, 25% always tip hotel housekeepers, and just 18% always tip coffee shop baristas. The trend in that stricter measure dipped and recovered: the share who always tip servers fell from 75% in 2021 to 65% in 2023, then climbed back to 70% in 2025. Tipping less often has not meant tipping nothing; it has meant tipping selectively.
Tipping by state
Toast's Q1 2026 data also ranks states by their overall tip rate, calculated as total tips divided by gross transaction volume across restaurant types:
| Highest overall tip rates | Rate | Lowest overall tip rates | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | 22.1% | California | 17.3% |
| West Virginia | 21.0% | District of Columbia | 17.5% |
| New Hampshire | 20.9% | Washington | 17.8% |
Two things stand out. First, the spread between the most and least generous states is under five percentage points, so regional differences are real but modest. Second, even the lowest-ranking state averages above 17%. In California, which Toast ranked last overall, full-service diners still averaged 17.7%.
The generation gap is the widest split in the data
Age divides tipping habits more than geography does. In Bankrate's 2025 survey, the share who always tip at sit-down restaurants rises steadily with age: 43% of Gen Z adults, 61% of millennials, 83% of Gen X adults, and 84% of baby boomers. The same pattern holds for tip size. Only 16% of Gen Z respondents say they typically tip at least 20% at sit-down restaurants, compared with 30% of millennials, 40% of Gen X, and 49% of boomers. The gap shows up everywhere Bankrate looked: 25% of Gen Z always tip their hair stylist or barber, against 71% of boomers.
Tipflation: asked more often, liked less
The one trend every source agrees on is that tipping has spread. Pew found that 72% of Americans say tipping is expected in more places today than it was five years ago. That spread is driven by checkout screens, and the reaction is mixed at best:
- 40% of Americans oppose businesses suggesting tip amounts on bills or screens, while 24% favor it (Pew).
- 72% oppose businesses adding automatic service charges to bills, regardless of group size (Pew).
- 63% of Americans hold at least one negative view of tipping, up from 59% in 2024 (Bankrate).
- 41% say tipping culture has gotten out of control, and 38% say they are annoyed by pre-entered tip screens (Bankrate).
- Screens can backfire: 27% say they tip less or not at all when presented with a pre-entered tip screen, while only 11% say they tip more (Bankrate).
And yet the habit persists, because most people still tie the tip to the service itself. Pew found 77% of Americans call the quality of service a major factor in deciding how much to tip, and Bankrate found 58% say quality is the single biggest influence on the amount, down from 64% a year earlier.
Key takeaways
- The register and the survey disagree, and both are right. On tipped checks at full-service restaurants, the average tip is 19.3% (Toast, Q1 2026). Asked what they would leave for an average meal, most diners say 15% or less (Pew). Generous tippers pull the transaction average up.
- Tipping is near-universal only where a server is involved. More than nine in ten diners tip at sit-down restaurants, but only one in four tip at coffee shops and one in eight at fast-casual counters (Pew). The norm follows the service, not the screen.
- Prompts are spreading tipping while eroding goodwill. Tipping is expected in more places than five years ago (72%, Pew), but pre-entered screens annoy 38% of customers and lead 27% to tip less (Bankrate). Asking for more, more often, is producing smaller, rarer tips per ask.
Tools for readers and writers
Splitting a check or checking a percentage before you pay? Our free tip calculator works out tip, total, and per-person amounts for any bill. Writers, bloggers, and site owners are welcome to cite the figures on this page with a link back, and can embed the same calculator in their own articles using our embeddable tip calculator.
Methodology and sources
This page is a compilation, not an original survey. It was assembled on October 26, 2026, from the published studies below. Figures are reported as published; where sources measure differently (per-check transaction averages versus self-reported habits versus shares of total spending), the text says so. All sources were accessed on October 26, 2026.
- Pew Research Center, "Tipping Culture in America," including the chapter "What services do Americans tip for, and how much?" (November 9, 2023). Survey of 11,945 U.S. adults conducted in August 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/2023/11/09/services-americans-do-and-dont-tip-for-and-how-much/
- Bankrate, "Tipping Culture Survey" (June 4, 2025). Conducted by YouGov Plc with 2,277 U.S. adults, April 23 to 25, 2025. https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/news/tipping-culture-survey/
- Toast, "Restaurant Tipping Trends Report," Q1 2026, based on aggregated card and digital tip transactions on the Toast platform (cash tips excluded), as reported by the Desert Sun (USA TODAY Network), July 30, 2026. https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/nation/california/2026/07/30/california-has-the-lowest-tipping-rate-in-us-report-says/91114970007/
- LendingTree, analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture food expenditure data, as reported by USA TODAY, June 27, 2025. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/06/27/tipping-how-much-highest-lowest/84292188007/
FAQ
What is the average tip at a full-service restaurant in 2026?
According to Toast's analysis of card and digital tips on its platform, the average tip at full-service restaurants was 19.3% in the first quarter of 2026, and it has stayed between 19.1% and 19.4% for two years. Quick-service restaurants averaged 15.8%. Cash tips are not counted in these figures.
How much do most Americans say they tip at a sit-down restaurant?
In Pew Research Center's survey, 57% of U.S. adults said they would tip 15% or less for an average meal at a sit-down restaurant, 37% named 15% as their standard tip, and 25% said they would tip 20% or more. Only 2% said they would leave no tip at all.
How often do Americans tip for food delivery and rideshare?
Pew found that 76% of food delivery customers always or often tip their driver, and 61% of taxi and rideshare users always or often tip. Using the stricter "always" measure, Bankrate's 2025 survey found 52% always tip food delivery drivers and 43% always tip taxi and rideshare drivers.
Which generation tips the least?
Gen Z. In Bankrate's 2025 survey, 43% of Gen Z adults said they always tip at sit-down restaurants, compared with 84% of baby boomers, and just 16% of Gen Z said they typically tip at least 20%, compared with 49% of boomers.
What is tipflation?
Tipflation describes tipping spreading to more businesses, often through checkout screens with pre-entered amounts. Pew found 72% of Americans say tipping is expected in more places than five years ago. Bankrate found 38% are annoyed by pre-entered tip screens, and 27% say they tip less or not at all when a screen presents one.