While many people will say the tip should factor into the overall cost of the meal, according to this report from Toast, Americans disagree.
Toast offers tools to help restaurants manage their business, and it recently released a trends report for this year’s second quarter (Q2) with data from the restaurants that use its platform. While the report looked at an array of topics—including favorite alcoholic beverages across different states, and the rising cost of burgers—one of the most surprising elements was the tipping trend. As a whole, it appears Americans are becoming less and less willing to dole out the cash.
As for the state with the worst tippers? Californians only tipped an average of 17.4% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, which was well below the national average of 19.0% that quarter.
But while that’s definitely on the lower side, nationwide tips have been on the decline as well. In the second quarter, nationwide tips dropped to 18.9% of the total check. The trend held for full-service restaurants, where customers tipped 19.4% in Q2, down from 19.7% in Q1. As for quick-service establishments, those tips have been steadily dropping since 2018—however, they did show the slightest uptick to 16.1% from 16% in Q1.
According to the report, some experts are attributing this to what they’re calling “tipping fatigue,” which they believe has been brought on by the fact that businesses outside of the service industry started asking for tips during the pandemic. They also believe that the downward trend in tipping is a result of inflation, which has impacted the overall cost of living.
And while some of the lower tips could be attributed to generational divides, it could also be a result of service charges that are being automatically implemented at many establishments, according to the report. These fees have gone up the most in larger cities like Los Angeles, which could explain why California is holding strong at the bottom of the tip ranking. It could also explain why smaller states like Delaware and Indiana are home to the best tippers. They topped the list with diners shelling out 21.5% and 20.6% of the total cost of their meals, respectively.
Regardless of the reasons behind people giving lower tips, it's not great for workers: Many full-service establishments only pay their servers an hourly minimum wage, which means servers are depending heavily on Americans’ willingness to loosen their purse strings.
So, check please!
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