What are the rules for tipping in America? A US traveller’s survival guide.

[DGS49]

Tipping is not just a custom in the U.S.; it is written into our laws.

People who derive more than half of their income in tips are a special category of employees, and their minimum wage is $2.13/hr, vs. $7.35 for everyone else. In fact, if an employee does not get enough tips to make up the difference, the employer is obliged to supplement the tips to bring the employee up to $7.35.

In food establishments, the pre-Covid custom was to tip 1/7 of the check or 15%. COVID resulted in far fewer people working those jobs and far fewer people dining out, so the customary tip went to 20%, or 1/5.

Ambiguity is raised by advocates who push for tipping people who do not normally get tips, most prominently the "baristas" who serve coffee in Starbucks and similar joints. Indeed, many places where you have to go up and order your own food places a Tip Jar next to the cash register.

Ignore all that. They are not entitled to a tip. If the services is extraordinary feel free, but they are not entitled.

 

[odanny]

You go to Thailand and give a 100 baht tip (about $3) and Thai's look at you like you're crazy, and then show you much gratitude. A more acceptable tip is 50 baht, and even that is never expected. I always tip over there because the service was always so good, but no one expects this, and are always surprised by it.

I do the same in the U.S. and always tip, at a minimum, 20%, even with poor service. If everyone does this then these low paying jobs can elevate their pay to something pretty decent.

 

[ShahdagMountains]

You go to Thailand and give a 100 baht tip (about $3) and Thai's look at you like you're crazy, and then show you much gratitude. A more acceptable tip is 50 baht, and even that is never expected. I always tip over there because the service was always so good, but no one expects this, and are always surprised by it.

I do the same in the U.S. and always tip, at a minimum, 20%, even with poor service. If everyone does this then these low paying jobs can elevate their pay to something pretty decent.

Is there a minimum wage in the US?

 

[braalian]

I once hears that TIPS is an acronym for To Insure Prompt Service

That acronym makes no sense, since the proper word would be ensure, not insure

 

[braalian]

Ok tipping isn’t “mandatory”. No one has ever said it was.

With that said, tipping certain workers like waitresses, pizza delivery guy, strippers, barbers, taxi drivers is a cultural norm to the point of being almost universal.

We all know a tip is expected when we engage their services and if you’re financial situation is such that you cannot afford a tip, then you should not be patronizing their service in the first place.

Yeah, occasionally we might get service s bad we don’t tip to make a point, but this is rare and otherwise you tip.

If you’re not regularly tipping these people for their services you’re a bastard and a scumbag. Period.

 

[MarathonMike]

Ok tipping isn’t “mandatory”. No one has ever said it was.

With that said, tipping certain workers like waitresses, pizza delivery guy, strippers, barbers, taxi drivers is a cultural norm to the point of being almost universal.

We all know a tip is expected when we engage their services and if you’re financial situation is such that you cannot afford a tip, then you should not be patronizing their service in the first place.

Yeah, occasionally we might get service s bad we don’t tip to make a point, but this is rare and otherwise you tip.

If you’re not regularly tipping these people for their services you’re a bastard and a scumbag. Period.

The question posed by the OP is "How much, not if". I don't think anyone would say not tipping is OK.

 

[Concerned American]

Is there a minimum wage in the US?

Yes. The US federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr. Most states' minimum wages are higher.

 

[Concerned American]

If you’re not regularly tipping these people for their services you’re a bastard

This makes no sense. Please look up the definition of bastard.

 

[Waffle SS]

I always hand cash to the waitress. I don't take a chance because a credit card tip can be shared with other staff too freely. Also, the don't have to declare that on their taxes. I make a point of telling her not to tell Uncle Sucker, and she usually laughs.

 

[Concerned American]

I always hand cash to the waitress. I don't take a chance because a credit card tip can be shared with other staff too freely. Also, the don't have to declare that on their taxes. I make a point of telling her not to tell Uncle Sucker, and she usually laughs.

The tip income has been figured as a percentage of the restaurants receipts for tax purposes in CA for many years, so cash makes little difference there if any.

 

[Waffle SS]

The tip income has been figured as a percentage of the restaurants receipts for tax purposes in CA for many years, so cash makes little difference there if any.

Ya, I figured CA would do that.

 

[Unkotare]

As British travellers discover on a first visit to the US, tipping is deeply embedded in the culture. And it is all too easy to breach etiquette.

The matter was thrust into the spotlight again recently when an American server shared their displeasure with a specific group of diners on Twitter.

“Lmao I f***ing hate Europeans sometimes on god,” wrote user “brecht apologist” on the social media platform. “This table just left $70 on a $700 check after chilling for HOURS. My manager even asked about their service and they were OVER THE MOON about my service so he explained the customary tip is 20% and they were like ‘ok.’ and left.

Cue a quickly escalating debate beneath the original post, with Europeans, and Brits in particular, keen to explain that, in fact, US tipping culture is not just alien to us, but completely baffling.

So join me, reader, as I attempt to unpack the myriad rules that apply when it comes to obligatory tipping across the Pond.

What are the rules for tipping in America?

A campaign to make 20 per cent the bare minimum for restaurant meals is having some effect

www.independent.co.uk

Offensive, archaic performance art.

 

[john finally retired]

Rules for tipping. If you get good service, then you tip. If you don't, then you dont.

 

[Unkotare]

Offensive, archaic performance art.

^^^

 

[ozro]

If you visit Apache County Arizona, you should tip every long-haired bearded old man in a hat you come in contact with. It's just the right thing to do.

 

[Unkotare]

Tipping is stupid and un-American.

 

[DGS49]

Everything one needs to know about tipping in the U.S. is contained in my posting above, dated January 27th. There is a lot of misinformation, much of it misanthropic, in this thread.

The bottom line is that while tipping is optional, one should always recognize that certain categories of service people are PRESUMED BY LAW to be getting tips, so not tipping them is an affront to human decency, which explains Unkotare's comments, above.

But I neglected to mention cab drivers and Uber drivers. The traditional tip for them has always been 20-25%, but their working situation is much improved in recent years. I'd say 15% is adequate for today, assuming courteous service.

 

[Redfish]

standard used to be 10%. now it has grown to 15-20%. But it's not mandatory, and no tip should be given if the service is below par.

 

[Redfish]

Tipping is not just a custom in the U.S.; it is written into our laws.

People who derive more than half of their income in tips are a special category of employees, and their minimum wage is $2.13/hr, vs. $7.35 for everyone else. In fact, if an employee does not get enough tips to make up the difference, the employer is obliged to supplement the tips to bring the employee up to $7.35.

In food establishments, the pre-Covid custom was to tip 1/7 of the check or 15%. COVID resulted in far fewer people working those jobs and far fewer people dining out, so the customary tip went to 20%, or 1/5.

Ambiguity is raised by advocates who push for tipping people who do not normally get tips, most prominently the "baristas" who serve coffee in Starbucks and similar joints. Indeed, many places where you have to go up and order your own food places a Tip Jar next to the cash register.

Ignore all that. They are not entitled to a tip. If the services is extraordinary feel free, but they are not entitled.

CAN YOU CITE THE STATUTE THAT YOU CLAIM EXISTS?

 

[Concerned American]

CAN YOU CITE THE STATUTE THAT YOU CLAIM EXISTS?

I was unaware of this as well and quite surprised to find out that a different minimum wage existed for tipped employees, but it is a fact. Fed minimum for tipped employees is $2.13 hr. but that minimum varies by state.

Minimum Wage for Tipped Employees by State 2025 | Paycor

In 2025 the tipped minimum wage rate is $2.13/hr. In some states, employers can claim a tip credit for these workers.

www.paycor.com