- Restaurant tipping rates in the US have dipped below 20%, per an industry report by Toast.
- Delaware is in the lead with the highest tipping rate at 21.5%.
Restaurant tipping rates across the US took a dip in the second quarter of 2023, according to an industry report published by the restaurant software company Toast on September 12.
Toast, which says it works with about 93,000 restaurants in the US, introduced its first "Restaurant Trends Report" in February 2022. The company said its report aggregated sales data from selected restaurants and areas on its platform.
According to Toast's report, the average restaurant tips servers received across all 50 states was 18.9% for the second quarter of 2023. That's down from 19.0% in the year's first quarter.
Toast's report ranked the average restaurant tips for all 50 states. According to their report, Delaware is leading the pack with an average tip rate of 21.5%, followed by Indiana and Kentucky, tied at 20.6%.
In contrast, average tipping rates were the lowest in California, at 17.4%, per Toast's report. Also making the list for the worst tippers were Washington, at 18%, and Nevada and Florida, at 18.2% and 18.3%, respectively.
Delaware and California's titles for best and worst tippers were the same in the first quarter of 2021, per Toast's May 31 report.
The company also tracked the tipping rates at full-service restaurants. According to the US Department of Agriculture, full-service restaurants usually offer table service. The definition includes both casual and fine-dining restaurants.
Toast said that tipping rates for full-service restaurants dropped to 19.4% in the second quarter, down from 19.7% in the first quarter.
This number was the lowest average tip amount for full-service restaurants Toast has recorded since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, per the company's report.
Toast cites three reasons for the decline in tips — increased "tipping fatigue" among consumers, a rising cost of living due to inflation, and restaurants' introduction of service charges.
How much to tip is a decision that rests with patrons, but a recommended amount of 15% to 20%, regardless of the service or industry, is the norm. This, according to Tim Urban, a writer from Wait But Why, who asked 100 service workers in New York City how much people tipped them.
However, the act of tipping itself has sparked controversy in the US.
According to a survey by consumer financial services company Bankrate published in June, nearly one in three Americans believe that tipping culture has gone "out of control." This summer, customers also told Insider that more stores and services have begun asking them for tips.
In May, a customer who received a tip prompt at a self-checkout kiosk told The Wall Street Journal that they thought such a prompt was a form of "emotional blackmail."