How much should I tip in the USA?
Short answer
18 to 20 percent at restaurants with table service, $1–2 per drink at bars, 15–20 percent for taxis and rideshares, $2–5 per night for hotel housekeeping, and around 20 percent for haircuts. It is not optional in practice: tipped workers can legally be paid as little as $2.13 an hour in cash wages.
Verified · 3 cited sources
American tipping is structural, not sentimental. Federal law allows employers to pay tipped workers a cash wage of $2.13 an hour, provided tips bring them to at least the standard minimum — so the tip is most of the server's income, not a bonus on top of a wage.
Some states require the full state minimum before tips — California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Minnesota, Montana and Alaska among them — but the tipping norm applies at the same rates there anyway.
The working norms: 18–20 percent for table service, with 15 percent now read as mild dissatisfaction; $1–2 per drink or 18–20 percent on a bar tab; 15–20 percent for taxis and rideshares; $2–5 per night for housekeeping, left daily since staff rotate; 20 percent for hair and personal care; $5–10 for food delivery, more in bad weather; and a few dollars for valets and bellhops.
Not tipped: fast food and counter service where you collect your own order, retail staff, and government employees. Tablet prompts asking for 20 percent at a bakery counter are a recent spread — declining at counter service is entirely normal, even among Americans.
Check the bill before adding anything: large parties often have an automatic 'service charge' or 'gratuity included' line, and tipping on top of it is not expected. Tax is added at the register too, and the convention is to tip on the pre-tax amount, though most people tip on the total.
Since 2011 federal rules have required that tips belong to workers — managers and owners cannot keep them — and tip pooling among staff is regulated.
- Restaurants: 18–20%; 15% reads as dissatisfaction
- Bars: $1–2 a drink; taxis and rideshares: 15–20%
- Hotel housekeeping: $2–5 a night, left daily
- Counter service: optional — declining the tablet prompt is normal
- Check for an automatic gratuity on large-party bills before adding more
People also ask
Sources & provenance
Facts verified
- 1.Tipped Employees Under the FLSA OfficialUS Department of LaborUsed for: $2.13 tipped cash wage and the tip credit mechanism
- 2.Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees by State OfficialUS Department of LaborUsed for: States requiring the full minimum before tips
- 3.Tip Regulations under the FLSA OfficialUS Department of LaborUsed for: Tips belong to workers; employer keeping prohibited
The wage structure comes from the Department of Labor sources cited. The specific tipping percentages and amounts are social conventions, not law — they are AI-assisted synthesis of consistently reported American practice, and norms drift over time and vary by city and setting.
Facts on this page are taken from the sources listed above — U.S. federal agencies, state governments, regulators and official statistical releases. Comparisons, judgments and "which option suits whom" conclusions are AI-assisted analysis written over those sources; they are marked in the text and listed as an AI-analysis entry in the sources, not attributed to any authority. Rates, thresholds, fees and processing times change, often at the start of a calendar or tax year; figures are current as of the review date shown and should be confirmed with the responsible agency before you rely on them. A great deal of American law is state law — where a rule differs by state, this site says so.