Around 57% of people leave a tip of 15% or less for a restaurant meal, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. Of that 57%, 37% reported that 15% is their typical tip and 18% left something less than that amount. Moreover, the poll included 2% who did not tip at all. Restaurant service tends to be the item that people tip for most often, though it is sometimes due to social pressure rather than actual quality of service, an expert said.According to experts, traditional etiquette when dining out is to tip at least 15% to 20%. Despite this norm, a large number of Americans don't share this view, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 11,945 U.S. adults. The survey revealed that 18% tip less than 15% on average meals at a sit-down restaurant, and another 2% do not tip at all. Moreover, 37% indicated that 15% is their standard tip. Additionally, the survey showed that over half of people, 57%, tip 15% or less.
Drew DeSilver, co-author of the study, said of these findings, "That did surprise me." He further noted that "the U.S. has a more highly developed tipping culture than most other countries," yet there appears to be little consensus on the matter. Unfortunately, it is not possible to track how these shares have changed over time, since Pew hasn't conducted historical polling on tips.
Americans tend to tip generously at sit-down restaurants more than any other service-- Bankrate reports that two-thirds of U.S. adults will always leave a gratuity for their server. Pew found that 81% of people will always tip restaurant staff which is more than those who tip for haircuts, food delivery, bar drinks, taxis, or ride-hailing services. Etiquette pro Diane Gottsman recommends tipping 15-20% for full-service restaurant meals in 2023. However, research has shown that tip amounts have been decreasing due to "tip fatigue." Toast saw that the average national tip dipped to 19.4% of the total bill for the second quarter of 2023, the lowest it has been since the pandemic started. Also, Bankrate showed that the percentage of people who always tip eatery waitstaff fell by four points from 2019 to 2022.
Michael Lynn, a professor at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and an expert on consumer behavior and tipping, commented that "people's willingness to tip, even in restaurant settings, is going down". He added that initially, Americans had been quite generous with their tips, as this was seen as a way to assist service workers and their employers. However, he believes that people are beginning to become "fed up" due to the proliferation of tip prompts which he terms "tip creep" - this being particularly compounded by the pandemic-era inflation last year that has tightened household budgets.
Lynn noted that, with no centralized authority to dictate customary tip amounts, the challenge becomes navigating the lack of guidance when deciding how much to tip. Pew's data showed that the majority of people viewed quality of service as a major deciding factor in how much they would tip.
Despite Lynne's assertion that service is a weak predictor for consumer behavior, social approval is a much stronger one. Lynn believes that people are essentially "buying approval" through tips, although only 23% of Pew survey respondents see social pressure as a major factor.
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