59% of Americans Have a Negative View of Tipping, Survey Shows

Americans are getting used to the idea of being asked for tips, from picking up a cappuccino to collecting their bag of takeout.

But many think tipping has gotten out of control, and the generous tips they left during pandemic restrictions have flattened out. That’s according to two new surveys measuring current attitudes towards gratuities. 

According to a new survey on tipping culture from Bankrate, a consumer financial services company, 59% of Americans have a negative view of tipping. That’s down from 66 percent in 2023. That percentage includes people who feel businesses should pay employees better, are annoyed about pre-entered tip screens, or would be willing to pay higher prices to be done with tipping. Additionally, 35% of those surveyed said tipping culture has gone too far. 

Younger consumers are more likely to be cool with parting from their cash than older ones. Fewer than half of Gen Z consumers – 45% to be exact— expressed a negative view about tipping. By comparison, 51% of millennials, 62% of Gen Xers, and 72% of Boomers expressed some sort of unhappiness with the tipping scene. 

The Bankrate survey smashes the ancient perception that women are poor tippers, especially at coffee bars. Twenty percent of women say they will always tip for their drinks, compared with 19% of male customers. 

While technology may be widespread, Bankrate found that 34% of those surveyed hate the pre-populated tip screens that pop up at coffee shops, food trucks, and elsewhere. 

Only 14% said the tip screens prompt them to tip more than they’d normally offer on their own. About 25% said they tip less if prompted on a screen. Two-thirds of the people surveyed (67%) say they base their tip on the quality of service.

Meanwhile, a survey from Toast, which offers point-of-sale technology among other services, said that tipping continues to be flat. In the first three months of 2024, total restaurant tips were 18.9% — the same as in the last three months of 2023. 

Sit-down restaurant tips remained flat at 19.4% in the first quarter of 2024, as were quick-service restaurant tips, which averaged 16% in the same period. In fact, total average tips and tips at full-service restaurants have been basically unchanged for the past year. Quick-service restaurant tips have hovered between 16.1% and 16% since spring 2023. 

So, which are the most generous and stingiest tipping states? Delaware, one of the smallest, led the pack, with an average total tipping percentage of 22.1% during the first three months of the year. It also has the highest tips for full-service restaurants, tipping an average of 22.5%, and quick-service restaurants, averaging 19.1%, according to Toast. To be fair, Delaware also has no state or local sales taxes, which may be part of the reason for the generosity.

California, the most populous state, tips the least of all states, especially for full-service restaurants, where the average tip was 17.9%. (A reason could be that California mandates higher hourly wages for fast food and other workers, so consumers don’t feel the need to tip as much.) 

However, the least generous at quick-service restaurants are in New Jersey, with an average tip percentage of 13.8% in the first quarter. So, if you’re deciding where to collect the best tips, you might steer clear of the Garden State and keep driving south down I-95, and hope your customers are Gen Zers.