Americans Are Starting to Tip Less. Should You?

Dining at restaurants is something you might do sparingly. On the other hand, you might frequently find yourself running into a coffee shop for a muffin to go, or stopping at a food cart when you need to pick up lunch in a hurry.

In all of these scenarios, you'll likely be asked to leave a tip before heading along on your merry way. And you may not exactly know how to handle those requests.

Tipping culture has, in the eyes of many people, gotten out of hand over the past year or so. There was a big push to tip restaurant and food service workers generously during the pandemic, when it seemed as if these folks were effectively risking their lives to do their jobs.

These days, though, working as a server or at a food counter seems like a less precarious option. Yet the pressure to go above and beyond on the tipping front still exists.

New data, however, reveals that consumers may finally be pushing back against tipping culture. So if you're tired of running up extra-high credit card tabs due to excessive tipping, you may want to rethink your strategy.

Americans are tipping less

Recent data from Toast shows that Americans are starting to scale back on tipping. During the second quarter of 2023, total tips averaged 18.9% of total check amounts, down (albeit just slightly) from 19% during the first quarter of the year. Tips at full-service restaurants declined from 19.7% of total check amounts during the first quarter of 2023 to 19.4% in the second quarter.

That represents the lowest average tip since the start of the pandemic based on the data Toast has on file. But it's also easy to see why.

In addition to suffering from tipping fatigue, diners may be frustrated by the fact that restaurants have taken to adding a surcharge for paying by credit card. Businesses are charged processing fees by credit card companies, so restaurants are imposing those surcharges for a reason -- they're trying to pass the cost onto consumers. But seeing as how restaurants commonly ate that cost before the pandemic, a lot of people are less than enamored with the practice.

There's also the fact that just about every single food establishment these days seems to have a checkout option that pressures customers into leaving tips. It's one thing to tip 20% when a server has shuttled food and drinks to your table several times over the course of an hour. It's another thing to be asked to tip 20% when you ran into a cafe and simply asked a counter worker to hand you a premade sandwich.

Come up with a system that works for you

Trying to navigate restaurant and food service tipping can be maddening. So a good bet is to try to come up with some sort of consistent approach to tipping so you're not forced to stress out or feel bad every time you're asked to pony up.

It might help you to divide your dining into three categories:

• Sit-down meals
• Delivery
• Takeout/counter service

For sit-down meals, consider being generous with tips if you can afford to. Servers are often paid below minimum wage, and so they rely on tips to make ends meet. That said, don't feel bad if you decide to limit yourself to 20% tips at sit-down establishments. That's long been the standard, and it's reasonable.

It's also customary to tip someone who delivers food to your door. However, many people will tell you that 20% isn't necessary in that situation, and that 10% to 15% is acceptable.

Keep in mind that some food delivery people may be spending a lot of money just to do their jobs, like paying to maintain and put gas in their vehicles. If you can swing it, you may want to tip 10% for deliveries where your driver was only on the road a short while and 15% in situations where it was clearly a longer drive.

Finally, there's takeout and counter service. Some people insist that there's no need to tip if they're the ones who are going out to get their own food. Similarly, some people refuse to tip counter people who are simply handing over premade food.

This is probably the toughest category to come up with a system for, so go with your gut while considering your financial situation. If you can afford to leave a small tip in these situations, go for it.

But if the point-of-sale machine gives you the choice of 15%, 20%, 25%, or "other," by all means, choose "other" if you've simply picked up a muffin or sandwich and want to tip 5%. It's certainly better than nothing.

It's hard to figure out what to tip and when to tip in the context of eating out. Your best bet may be to try to find a system that works for you and just run with it.