The standard tip for most services in the US is 15%. Love it or hate it, tipping is how many people earn their living, and it is here to stay. Most people I know have no problem with leaving tips, but I’ve noticed a lot of people have trouble determining how much they should leave.
Some people pull out a pen and paper and work it out to the penny, and others always leave the same amount, regardless of the bill. I also know a guy who carries around a tip cheat sheet in his wallet, but as you can tell from the contents of my wallet, I don’t like to carry around unnecessary items.
How much should you tip?
Instead of figuring out the tip to the penny, try these simple tricks to quickly and painlessly calculate your tips:
Divide by 6. My favorite tip trick to determine how much to leave is to divide the final bill by 6, which comes out to 16.67%. Sure, it’s a little higher than the standard 15%, but it’s also much easier to figure out. Dividing by 7 (14.3%) and rounding up accomplishes the same thing.
If the service is great I will usually tip 20%, which is easily determined by dividing the final bill by 5. If the service is adequate, but not great, I might divide 8, which is 12.5%, or 10, which is 10%. Even then, I usually round up to the nearest dollar because I don’t like carrying around change.
Divide by 10 and add half again. Another quick way to get exactly 15% is to divide a number by 10, then add half that number.
Example: Let’s try this out on an odd number… How much would you tip on a $27 bill? If you want to pay exactly 15% of $27, you will pay $4.05. Check out how close you get by using the tips above:
- Divide by 5 (20%): $27 ÷ 5 = $5.40
- Divide by 6 (16.7%): $27 ÷ 6 = $4.50
- Divide by 7 (14.3%): $27 ÷ 7 = $3.86
- Divide by 8 (12.25%): $27 ÷ 8 = $3.38
- Divide by 10 (10%): $27 ÷ 10 = $2.70 (add half again and you have $4.05)
As you can see, all of these are easy to remember, easy to perform, and get you pretty close to the target number of 15%, or higher or lower depending on how good or bad the service was.
Here are some other tipping ideas:
Tipping rules of thumb. I generally tip at least $1 regardless of the bill, even if it is only a $0.99 cup of coffee. I might tip more if I sit at the table for a long time because by occupying the table I am taking away other potential tips.
Another guideline is to tip a waiter or waitress 15 percent for good service, 20 percent for exceptional service and no less than 10 percent for poor service. Even though you might want to skip out on the tip for poor service, you may be hurting others because in many restaurants waitstaff share tips with busboys, bartenders, and hostesses.
Double the tax, then round up. Tax in many locations is roughly 6-7%. Doubling the tip and rounding up to the nearest dollar often gets you very close to 15%. (This works better on smaller bills).
Tipping at a bar. I often tip $1 per drink. If you want prompt service, make your first tip of the evening a good one, then follow that up with regular tips per drink after that. If you open a tab, it’s a good idea to make your first tip with cash to get the bartender’s attention, ensuring prompt service for the rest of the evening.
Casinos. Casino dealers don’t earn much per hour from the casino, but often earn quite a bit from tips. It is considered good form to give them a small tip when you win a big hand or whenever there is a dealer change. Many dealers also don’t mind if you tip them by placing a bet for them (often on the sucker bets).
Tipping on a cruise. Last year, my wife and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon. We had a great time, and thankfully were prepared for the tips. Expect to pay around $6-10 per person, per day, with optional tips as you go.
No tip. I don’t recommend stiffing your waiter because, as mentioned earlier, tips are often shared. But if you feel inclined to skip the tip anyway, do it the right way. If you are paying with a credit card, don’t write $0.00. It’s too easy for the waiter (or someone else) to change the numbers to give himself a nice tip. Instead, write NO TIP on the line. There is no way to easily change that. Also consider speaking with the restaurant manager. If the service is that poor, the manager will want to know.
Do you have any tip tricks or advice to share?
Note about tipping in the US and Canada: Many of the comments left on this article discuss tipping practices in the US and in Canada. There is a big difference because waitstaff in Canada receive a minimum wage for their service, plus tips. Most waitstaff in the US receive a reduced minimum wage (typically half) and their tips are supposed to make up the difference.
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
I think the 20% tip is becoming the new “standard.” I only tip 15% if the service was bad or maybe if it was a quick breakfast or lunch.
I use the divide by 10 and add half again method; it’s fast, I can do it in my head in seconds, and I can round up or down from there based on service.
I always round up to the nearest dollar, and I usually leave 15-20 percent. My wife was a server in college, and hated having to count out change at the end of the night to cash in at the register. Before I met her I tipped to the penny, leaving odd numbers on the table or on the credit card receipt to make my bill an even number. Now we round up to make life a little easier on our server. After all, less than a dollar in change isn’t going to make that much a difference in our financial lives.
Frugal Dad,
I agree. I never served, but I have a lot of friends and relatives who have. If I tip in cash, I always round to the nearest dollar, and don’t leave change. On credit cards I sometimes round to the nearest dollar for the tip, and other times ad it up so I have an even bill. It all depends on the numbers.
And I agree, I don’t mind leaving a little extra change. It won’t matter much to me, but if everyone did it, it will make a big difference to the waitstaff.
I also usually tip 20% unless the service was bad. I’m terrible at math, so what I do is remember that 20% is $2 for every $10 spent. So, if your bill is $30 (3 x 2 = 6) your tip would be $6. I add a dollar as necessary for uneven numbers or fantastic service, or I take a little off for really bad service.
It’s probably a whole different topic, but I’m always torn about tipping at places where they don’t actually continue to wait on you, like Starbucks or a casual sandwich shop. Am I a stingy person if I don’t tip at a drive through window?
Kristen,
Personally, I don’t think it’s necessary to tip at a drive through and I don’t usually drop change into a tip cup for the cashier (though if there is one for a charity I usually put change in there). I think that is part of their regular job and not something that really deserves a tip. Waitstaff, busboys, bartenders, etc, rely on tips for their income.
Whatever you do, don’t use a calculator or tip cheat-sheet. Figure the tip in your head – it makes you look more intelligent and sometimes impresses your fellow diners (depending who they are).
I work for tips as a bartender. It is amazing to me how many people DO NOT tip. Even before I worked in a tip based industry I was a generous tipper.
It is getting even worse with the rising prices of everything.
The worst tipper I have ever had? A man opened a tab and promptly charged over $700 on the tab. Both bartenders and both waitresses waited on that man and his party all night long with prompt service. He left a ZERO percent tip. Not even a thank you.
My rule of thumb is to generally tip $25.00 if I am going to a place where tipping is customary. (Which I do not do a lot of these days!) I can assure you that I do not wait long for a table or a drink.
But really, if my bar is jumping on a Friday night and there are many customers waiting for a drink, who do you think I am going to wait on first? Those who I know tip or those who I know DO NOT tip? Now, I do not ignore anyone and I try to wait on people in the order they came to the bar, but really, I don’t always know who was there first. And when in doubt, you take care of the people who take care of you!
I believe that 20% would be the new 15%.
I say 20% for good, solid service.
15% for just barely adequate, brought-the-food service.
And I’ll go above and beyond 20% for that server who anticipates your needs and is very friendly.
I still have no idea what is the right amount to tip the woman who cuts my hair or delivery drivers from pizza places etc…
By the way, the easiest way to figure a 20% tip, in my opinion, is to move the decimal one to the left and double it. So $50.00 = $5.00 x 2 = $10.00 tip.
Klein,
I usually tip about 20% on my haircut, or more if they do a great job. I rarely order pizza, and if we do we usually get take out because it is much quicker.
Thanks for the tips.
I had a disagreement with a friend of mine one day and I want to know what everyone else thinks. Do you tip on the total bill (tax included) or just on the amount that the food was. I believe you tip on the price of the food they said total bill. I know it isn’t a big difference but hell 10,000 pennies is $100.
Also another thing alot of people do not know is that in some establishments the waiteress gets charged a certain % on the total amount of sales they are resposible for so that it can be figured into their wages and for tax purposes. The bar that I bounced at the waitresses and bertenders had 8% of their sales added into their “wages” so that taxes could be taken out.
PS Tipping bouncers, doormen, etc at a club/bar that you frequent regularly can definately help you get into the place much quicker if there is a line. Just take a 5 or 10 bill fold it and shake hands with the guy this is especially helpful in getting large parties in quickly but is going to take more than 5 or 10 bucks a 20 can get a group of 6-8 in very quickly.
I do the 10%+5% thing, calling it “Time and a half”, myself. Although, I don’t really do the cents…I just round. For instance, if it’s a $17 check, I go: $1.70 + about…$.80, so around $2.50 should be the tip.
If it’s an odd amount, like $15.66, I’ll go about $1.50 + $.75…$2.25. Since it’s got a weird cents amount on the full bill, I’ll just tip $2.34, making it an even $18.00. This is both for my checkbook’s sanity and ease of writing.
Amphritrite,
I do a lot of rounding like that as well. It makes it easier.
Another reason for not giving 0% tip for terrible service: The server might assume you simply forgot to leave cash on the table as opposed to intentionally giving nothing. In that case, the server doesn’t get the message.
If you have a completely wretched experience and don’t want to leave anything, leave a penny. They’ll get the point.
In regards to not leaving a tip for bad service: 1) As another poster mentioned, you might also be shorting others who share in the tips, like bus boys; 2) I don’t think not leaving a tip, or leaving a very small tip, gets the point across enough. In the cases where I’ve had bad enough service to think the server didn’t deserve a tip, I still left a small tip but let the manager know that I was displeased and why so they can correct the problem.
You could have a server who is just sort of clueless or doesn’t realize what they’re doing wrong. As a plus, in most of the cases where I’ve complained the manager offered us a gift card as an apology!
Great points, Kristen. Managers should be aware if their waitstaff are not performing well. And it’s a bonus if you get a gift card out of it.
multiply by 2 to get 20%:
check = $71
x 2 = 142
tip = $14
round up if you got good service, or down for bad
How and why did the standard tip go up to 20% ?? When will it go to 25%, 30%, 50%??
I think tipping is a bad setup.
Adequate waitstaff should keep their jobs and get paid enough live on, w/ increases from time to time.
Superior waitstaff should get pay raises more often and get paid better than adequate waitstaff.
Poor waitstaff should get warnings, then get canned.
The tipping process is a pain. I’m happy to tip 15-20% for decent service, 25% or even a bit more if it’s great service. But being obligated to tip when you get shitty service just feels wrong. The shared-tip thing seems unfair to all involved, doesn’t it???
Dave,
No idea when it went up to 20%. I’ll tip that much sometimes, but only for good service, or on a small bill when it makes more sense to round up.
Unfortunately, waitstaff usually get compensated by their employer at the same hourly rate regardless of how good they are. Tips usually make up the difference.
I use to wait tables in a greasy spoon cafe when I was in high school, and the standard tip was usually 2 bucks, no matter what the bill. I ran my ass off waiting on truckers, other high school students, the after church crowd – so I appreciate the hard work of the waitstaff.
However – I am taken aback at the new “standard” of tipping 20-25%. I was out for dinner last weekend (at a fairly nice place) where my bill was a little over a hundred bucks. I thought I did the right thing by leave the waiter a ten, a five, and a few ones (which was the only cash I had on me) but instead I got a shitty look as he jerked the money away from me.
On the other hand, I tipped the girl who cuts my hair (a 30 buck cut) seven dollars and she seemed embarassed to be taking it.
Sigh. I guess you can’t win.
Lee, it seems ti me that waiter’s reaction was rude. If the bill is relatively low, then I might leave 20% or so (because less than $2 seems like it’s not enough). But I don’t think it’s cheap to leave 15%.
FYI, servers get paid an average of about $2.50 / hour. This is something that I don’t think everyone knows… don’t be cheap.
If you can’t aford to tip, you certainly can’t afford to be eating out!
Shelby, where do you live that servers only get paid an average of $2.50/hour? All across Canada the minimum wage is at least $8.00/hour, many places being $9.00 or $10.00. I know that’s still not an exceedingly high wage, but along with decent tips (15-20%) you can make a decent living off that. If I go out for dinner with my family, I always factor in a good tip (I was once a waitress myself) but it is not up to me to pay that person’s rent for the month.
If someone is honestly paying you $2.50/hour, I would contact the labor board because I’m sure that has to be illegal. No one could ever have a hope of living off a wage like that.
Steph, most places in the US only pay waiters about half the minimum wage because they are expected to earn money from tips. If they don’t earn enough to cover minimum wage, then the restaurant has to make up the difference in wages. (there are laws to cover this). It doesn’t seem fair, but that is how it is, and why it is so important to tip well.
…and there lies the problem.
There are places that pay min. wage and tips are a bonus
There are places that pay half min. wage and tips but get topped up to min wage
There are places that pay half min. wage and tips but no top up
There are places that are tips only.
So if you’re trying to tip so the server gets a decent wage what’s the right amount?
As a person who has always been in service industry, I tip better than average by far. And in response to Jarhead, the amount of tips that are to be claimed and paid taxes on, are the total amount of sales, which includes tax. So the proper amount to tip on would be the total amount. I daily experience the people who tip a set amount regardless of how much is spent or the excellence of service, and quite frankly it is not fair. A lot of people think you should not have to tip certain service people, but when it comes right down to it, they make a lot less an hour than many other jobs.
Dave R. I bartend and generally work by myself so do not have to share tips except the rare ocassion that i have help. I have worked one place ever that we had what is known as a tip pool, for a week. I get a $20 tip and have to share that with someone who made $20 all day, i think not! But it has to be horrendous service for me to leave no tip, which i have.
I have worked in many positions in the service industry and even owned a few restaurants in my time.
Most servers are taxed a percentage of the total sales they did for their shift. The average they are taxed is 8%-10%. What does that mean? It means that if you stiff your server, that server is paying money out of pocket for the privilege of waiting on you. Also means that if you tip 15% the server is really only getting around 5% of what you left, and this is if they don’t have to share with others.
So to all of you guys who drop hundreds at a bar or restaurant and think you are doing the server a favor by leaving them a whole $20 dollar bill, you just took money out of their pocket to pay taxes on money they never received. Fair or not, that is the tax system we have in place. Don’t hurt those who are serving you, they have families too.
Too many times servers are stiffed for things that are out of their control, such as the kitchen being in the weeds, or they may be short staffed and having to do more than one job.
I worked at a truck stop where the servers had to also do the dishes and be the janitors for that shift. Alot of people think that restaurant owners make lots of money and that is rarely the case. Most restaurant owners work an average of 14-16 hrs per day 6-7 days per week. Most owners earn less money than the lead cook. 80% of all restaurants will fail in the first 3 years.
If you are cheap and don’t like to tip, please use the drive-thru or stay at home, you are hurting other hard working people. Serving tables was rated the most stressful job in the world, second was clearing land mines.
As to Casino tipping. Tip at least $1 for every drink served. If you are a table player you should tip the dealer every 20 minutes equal to what you are betting for each hand. If you are betting 1 red $5 chip per hand you should give the dealer a $5 chip every 20 minutes or even more if you get on a good run. You should also tip the cashier or Cage at least $1 when you cash out or more if you did well that day.
Slot players should also tip and tip well. If you don’t tip you will find yourself waiting for a long time for any kind of service. When you win a hand pay jackpot where a slot attendant must pay you money by cash or check there will usually be 2-3 people present. A Slot attendant, a security person, and depending on the size of the jackpot a players club person. You should tip the Slot person and the Security person as these people depend on tips. The Players Club person should not be tipped as most casino’s do not allow them to be tipped because they rate your play.
You should either tip the Slots, and Security seperately or tell them to split it. If you do not tell them to split it slots will take it all and give security nothing. You should tip at least 10% on a split tip or 5% to each department (Slots/Security) It may sound like alot of money to you, but you need to realize that those people do not get to keep the tips for themselves, but have to share the money with their respective departments, and only get paid their tips once per week. Their tips usually average $200 or less per week as most people don’t tip. You should also give a $5 courtesy tip each to slots/security for a hopper fill to ensure quick service.
Why tipping can make you a winner at the casino. Casino’s can get very busy at times. It seems to be either very slow or extremely busy. When it gets busy Slots and Security will service the people first they know will take care of them, after that they will get to the people who don’t tip. I have seen people who don’t tip wait for service up to 30 minutes even when its dead, as punishment. Also if you tip well Slots/Security will give you information as to what machines are hot that day. If you wait for a long time for service at a casino, now you know why. So you think you will complain to the manager about slow service instead of tipping? Guess what? The Slot Manager gets a cut of the tips too.
NEVER stiff the server. ALWAYS give at least 10%. If there is a problem TELL the manager!!!!The reason is this…you have NO idea what is going on behind the scenes. If the manager unfairly gave the server too many tables, and the server couldn’t keep up, then TELLING the manager your service was slow will help them correct those problems in the future. NEVER assume you know what the problem is!!!The server has every right to defend themselves when problems arise, just like you do at your job.
Tipping is a gratitude for services rendered. I will give 10%, if I do not notice the service. From there, it will go up or down, depending on my awareness of that service. I will give nothing if the service is annoying and I will add to the 10%, if I become aware that the service is better than usual. Tipping someone for poor service is bizarre. Not tipping someone for decent service is just as bizarre.
Dan, I have been serving for almost two years and today was the first time i have ever been this insulted. i would like to say that we’re not always perfect, we’re not always going to have good days, and im sure you aren’t flawless ether so maybe next time you experience slow service be a little more considerate. you have no idea whats going out. chances are they are just overwhelmed, and im sure that they are aware of the mistakes so keep you penny in your pocket. cuz im sure they feel bad enough without your insulting penny….id rather just be stiffed.
its not that hard to get their attention if you want something… its not like we can read your mind and if their busy there are plenty of people around that are more than willing to help you out. simply ask them for assistance.
I never tip on the TOTAL bill . . . I usually tip 15% on the Total before taxes. I refuse to pay a tip on money that goes to the government.
I am dead against tipping more than 10%. In the 70’s when meals were less than $5.00 tips were 10%. On $5, that’s 50¢. Now when meals are $20.00, they want 15%? or even 20% as one person here has pointed out. On $20, 10% is $2.00. As meals go up in price so does the tip …at 10%. These people are paid a wage although it is minimum wage but with 10% in tips they do quite well for a job that requires little education. Keep in mind that while they are waiting on you, they are waiting on others and can probably take care of 5 tables in an hour. That’s $10 in tips per hour plus minimum is a lot more than many others get who work a lot harder or at least as hard. People at donut shops, clothing stores, walmart etc get not tips at all and often are working for minimum or a bit over. And they are working their AO and they are giving service. The people who are trying to push the tips percentage up and up are the waiters. When they mention 20%, they are getting ridiculous. When the price of dinner or a service goes up, the amount of the tip automatically goes up and there is no need for the percentage to go up, too. We should pay them 5% for a while and then they would appreciate 10%.
The salaries of resturant workers are calculated in the cost. then the costs are the base of the bills. so when you pay your resturant bill you covered even the gas for the truck bringing the meat to to resturant. then one day the owners of the resurant added %15 of the bill to thier profits, meaning to cover any new costs but simply double thier profit. How did they do that is by asking customers to pay some of the workers. they wish they can make you double pay for all workers including the ones behind the seen. So the sent these workers to you and make you feel guilty as thier living in totaly dependent on your tip. In the mean time the owner did not bother cutting what he used to pay them from your bill.
I think the tip is a steal the goes to resturant owner, it is demeaning to resurant workers, it is becoming a way to judge cutomers and even deprive some from thier right of good sdervice and make them feel cheep even if they tip but not %15 but say %11. Tip used to be a sign of wvaluation and appreciation for real good service. but now it is a sign of evaluation of customers.
I think we need to remember that some comments here are Canadian based, and some are American based.
My husband and I owned a restaurant for several years in Canada and this is how it is….
- tipping is on the total BEFORE TAXES- when taxes were 15% it made it easy- simply pay the tax for good service.
- servers DO NOT pay tax on their tips (unless they claim it) which most do not
- Most servers do need to contribute a % of their sales (not a % of their tips) to a tip pool which gets divided between cooks, hostesses, bus boys etc… that means if you do not tip at all the server has had to put money out of their own pocket- basically it cost them to serve you, which even for poor service is unfair. if you do a bad job do you get wages deducted????????
- 15% is a standard tip, we leave more for exceptional service and less for poor service. By poor service I mean something within the severs control- examples: rudeness, walking past our table 15 times without askingi if we want a refill on coffee etc, waiting for a long period of time when first being sat without even a acknowledgment, waiting to pay (very irritating)etc…
- NOT LIKING YOUR MEAL- or waiting too long for your meal is not the servers fault- that has NOTHING to do with service- it is the kitchen.
- and finally: servers live on tips and get paid minimally for a reason- your pasta dish which is $14.99 would easily be $30.00 if the owner had to pay the entire wait staff higher than minimum wage. So would you rather pay an additional $2.50 tip on that entree or $15.00????????
Thanks for the insight, Wendy. I think many people weren’t aware that there were comments from Canada and the US, which causes confusion on standard practices, and what is is isn’t acceptable.
The best tip I have heard and now use and makes it easy to figure in your head is…take three times the tax and that will give you 18% so you can go up or down whatever suits you. And tip only on the food not with the tax included ((total bill).
DOUBLE THE TOTAL AND MOVE THE DECIMAL TO THE LEFT FOR 20%
27 x2=54 TIP $5.40
DROP A LITTLE FOR LESS THAN 20%