Americans are fed up with ‘tipping culture’, leaving less tips

The size of tips left by American restaurant patrons has decreased in recent years.

Nationwide, the overall tipping average for restaurants reached 18.8% in the third quarter of 2024, Toast data based on U.S. restaurants using its systems showed.

While that rate remained stable from the previous quarter, it fell from 19% in the third quarter of 2022 and from 19.2% in the same period in 2021, the data showed.

Specifically for full-service restaurants, the average tipping rate was 19.3%, down from the 19.6% rate seen in the third quarter of 2022 and the 19.8% rate followed a year ago by Toast.

The percentage that people typically tip when visiting quick-service restaurants in America has also declined. It stood at 15.9% in the third quarter of 2024, down from 16.1% in the third quarters over the two years before that and 16.5% in the third quarter of 2021.

Tipping rates for both types of restaurants in the third quarter of 2024 were also down compared to the same period in pre-COVID 2018 and 2019, Toast data showed.

Some experts attributed these declines in average restaurant tipping rates, previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, to “tip fatigue.”

“Consumers have reached something called ‘tip fatigue,'” Ted Jenkin, co-founder of oXYGen Financial, told FOX Business. “Americans want to tip for a job well done, but they don’t want to be told what to tip while someone watches them tip. It’s the bad pressure of automated systems that is creating this counterculture of people who want to tip less.”

Meanwhile, Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman said he’s seen a “significant decline” in the frequency of tipping “over the last several years.”

In a survey published in June 2024 by Bankrate, 67% of American adults who ate at sit-down restaurants said they always leave a tip for their servers, representing an 8% decrease from three years ago.

This phenomenon has not been exclusive to restaurants, according to Rossman.

The share of U.S. adults tipping hairstylists, caterers, bartenders and some other service workers each time fell between 2021 and 2024, the Bankrate survey showed.

For baristas, the share went from 23% in 2021 to 20% last year. Forty-one percent “always” tipped their taxi or rideshare drivers in 2024, down from 48% in 2021, according to the survey. It also found that the proportion of people tipping their hair every time fell by 8% over the same period.

Rossman pointed to inflation affecting Americans’ wallets as the “primary explanation,” but noted that other things have also been at play, leading to “tip fatigue.”

“A lot of people are upset with the tipping culture,” he said, adding that 59% of American adults have “at least a negative view” of tipping.

“There has been a lot of tipping in recent years. As in, being asked to tip in previously unconventional settings,” Rossman also said. “Technology has enabled that, too. Apps and payment screens are asking for tips in more visible ways than an old-fashioned tip jar. .You no longer have to go out of your way to put bills or coins in a cup.You now have to go out of your way to not tip, by hitting zero on a pre-entered tip screen the possible awkwardness of the cashier and other customers looking at you.”

The coronavirus pandemic also affected tipping, according to senior industry analyst Bankrate.

It “briefly” resulted in an “appreciation bump for service workers” and contributed to “tip creep that hasn’t gone away,” he said.

Rossman told FOX Business that businesses are also “wary of raising prices more than they already have, so they look at tipping as a hidden supplement to pour more money into their workers without having to foot the bill “.

In restaurants, non-optional gratuities and service charges have risen the most in recent years, The Wall Street Journal reported. This, according to the newspaper, has prompted smaller tips from diners, and so have higher menu prices.

A SpotOn survey released in May showed that tipping expectations of restaurant industry workers varied, with more than a third of respondents reporting that 15% tip was the “minimum percentage” they expected “based on service.” . Some 28% expected customers to give them 14%, while 11% asked for 20% and 8% wanted 18%, it found.