This browser does not support the Video element.
Is tipping at a tipping point?
Traditionally, 15 percent was an average tip, with 20 percent for excellent service. Now, the suggested tips on many restaurant bills include 22 percent, 25 percent and even 30 percent. As FOX News correspondent Jonathan Serrie reports, it's a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A recent survey showed that Americans are spending more on travel, dining out and live entertainment this year – and a new survey by Bankrate indicates they are also tipping for it.
The company surveyed more than 2,400 U.S. adults between April and May 2024, asking respondents about how they feel about tipping culture in 2024 and which services they currently provide tips for.
The survey found that a majority of people (64%) said the amount they tip was most influenced by the quality of service.
Respondents were also more likely to tip less with a pre-entered tip screen – found at many coffee shops, food trucks and mobile apps.
(File: Prostock-Studio / iStock / Getty Images Plus)
Among the U.S. adults who use each of the following services, here’s a breakdown of how many people always tip:
- Servers at a sit-down restaurant: 67% (up from 65% last year)
- Hair stylists/barbers: 55% (up from 53% last year)
- Food delivery people: 51% (up from 50% last year)
- Taxi/rideshare drivers: 41% (up from 40% last year)
- Hotel housekeepers: 22% (down from 23% last year)
- Coffee shop baristas: 20% (down from 22% last year)
- Furniture/appliance delivery workers: 15% (down from 17% last year)
- When picking up takeout food: 11% (down from 13% last year)
- Home services/repair people: 10% (same as last year)
Even though there is a tipping etiquette, BankRate said how much a person tips is largely a personal decision. It might depend on how personal the transaction was, how long the service took and the quality of the service.
Tipping on the rise
This new survey comes as tipping continues to rise across the United States as more and more businesses have started asking for a little extra. Fast food restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, online retailers, home repair workers and even self-checkout machines are now asking for a tip these days.
"It feels like a record number of businesses are soliciting tips. Tipping has become a hidden tax," Ted Rossman, a Bankrate senior industry analyst, said. "Many companies are hesitant to raise prices further, given all of the increases we've seen in recent years, but asking for tips can essentially be a way for them to raise prices without acting like they're raising prices."
This browser does not support the Video element.
April CPI report shows inflation ticked downward
Thomas Savidge with the American Institute for Economic Research joins LiveNOW's Andrew Craft to break down the latest CPI report.
A study conducted last year by Pew Research Center found that more than 70% of Americans said tipping is expected in more places now than it was five years ago, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
RELATED: Bad service, no tip: Most Americans demand quality before tipping
According to Bankrate’s survey, 59% of Americans said they view tipping negatively. This 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 altogether.
They also found that 35% of Americans believe tipping culture has gotten out of control.
Compared to last year’s tipping survey, more respondests now believe tipping culture has gotten increasingly out of control. More than 1 in 3 (35%) Americans surveyed in 2024 agreed, compared to 30% in 2023.
As people get older, opinions about tipping also seem to become more negative. According to the survey, 72% of boomers and and 62% of Gen Xers had at least one negative view toward tipping, compared to 51% of millennials and 45% of Gen Zers.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.