1. The default rules
If you remember nothing else, remember the three defaults for the three most common situations. They cover roughly 90% of the times an American adult is asked to tip in a given month.
| Situation | Customary 2026 tip | The minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Sit-down restaurant | 18–22% pre-tax | 15% |
| Food delivery | 15–20% | $5 or 10%, whichever is higher |
| Rideshare (Uber, Lyft) | 15–20% | $2 |
The number above the table is what the customary number actually is in 2026 — not what it was when your parents learned to tip. Bankrate's 2025 survey found 65% of restaurant-goers still tip at least 15%, but the median tip among those who tip rose to about 18%. The Emily Post Institute now lists 15–20% as the recommended sit-down range, and the New York Times' etiquette desk has used 20% as the default in its example math since 2022.
The "minimum" column is the floor: tip less than that and you're communicating something — either you didn't know better, or you're penalizing the server. The better move for genuinely bad service is to tip the floor and ask to speak to the manager, because the server's tip is shared with bussers and bar staff who didn't cause the problem.
2. The math, once
The fastest mental shortcut is the "move and double" trick. Take the bill, move the decimal one place to the left — that's 10%. Double it — that's 20%. Adjust from there.
Worked example: $54.80 dinner, 20%
For 15%, take the 10% number and add half of it again ($5.48 + $2.74 ≈ $8.22). For 18%, take 20% and shave off about a tenth. For 25%, take 20% and add a quarter of the 10% number.
Pre-tax or post-tax?
Etiquette guides say pre-tax. In practice, the post-tax number is what's printed at the bottom of the bill and most people just tip on that. On a $50 meal with 8% sales tax, the difference between 20% pre-tax ($10.00) and 20% post-tax ($10.80) is 80 cents. Nobody will judge you either way; the calculator on the homepage works fine with either input.
Splitting between people
The correct way to split: add the tip first, then divide. Don't split the bill and have each person tip on their share — you'll end up over- or under-tipping by a few dollars because of rounding. If the shares are uneven, use the share-based split on the group-dining page; the calculator distributes the tip in proportion to what each person actually owes.
Rounding up
The "round to next whole dollar" toggle on the calculator does what it says. The receipt math then recomputes the tip as total − bill, so the percentages on screen stay honest. If you'd rather round to the next $5 (handy for cash tips on a small check), do it by eye — the difference is rarely more than a dollar.
3. Who you tip, with the customary amount
The default list, alphabetized so it's scannable. Each row links to a page with worked examples and edge cases.
| Role | Customary 2026 amount |
|---|---|
| Bartender | $1–$2 per drink, or 20% on a closed tab |
| Barista (custom drink) | $1, or 10–15% |
| Bellhop | $2 per bag, $5 minimum |
| Concierge | $5–$20 for a real service (reservation, hard ticket) |
| Delivery driver | 15–20%, $5 minimum |
| Hair stylist, barber | 18–20% |
| Hotel housekeeping | $3–$5 per night, left daily with a note |
| Massage therapist | 18–20% on the menu price |
| Mover | $20–$40 per mover, per day |
| Restaurant server | 18–22% pre-tax |
| Rideshare driver | 15–20% of fare |
| Tattoo artist | 20–25%, cash preferred |
| Valet | $3–$5 each time the car is brought up |
4. Who you don't tip (and why the list is shrinking)
The traditional "do not tip" list has been thinning out for a decade. Some entries are still firm; others have been quietly redefined by tablet-based payment systems that ask for a tip on every transaction. The current shape of the list:
- Owner of a salon, restaurant, or other small business. The old rule said no — the owner is keeping the profit. Emily Post dropped the rule in 2023. If a stylist or chef is also the owner, tip the same as you would a non-owner.
- Salaried doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants. A holiday gift, sure. Not a tip.
- Counter staff at a fast-food chain. The screen will often prompt you. It is not customary. See the tipping-fatigue piece for what the data shows.
- Airline staff, cruise-ship cabin crew with a service charge already on the bill. Most cruises now add a "gratuity" line; that's the tip. You don't double it unless someone went above and beyond.
- Self-checkout machines. If a screen asks for a tip and there is literally no human on the other end, the answer is zero.
5. Cash vs. card — what actually happens to the money
Servers usually prefer cash, and the reason is plumbing. A tip on a card has to be processed: most restaurants pay it out on the next paycheck, the credit-card processor takes its 2–3% fee on the full ticket (including the tip), and depending on the state, the tip is reported to the IRS in real time. Cash arrives in the server's hand at the end of the shift, is shared with bussers and bar staff per the house tip-out, and is taxed as self-reported income.
Federal law since the 2018 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act forbids employers from keeping any portion of a tip — including in non-tip-credit states. Tip pools can include "back of house" (cooks, dishwashers) only if no tip credit is taken against the minimum wage; this varies by state and is the reason your bill in California adds an "employee health & wellness" surcharge instead.
None of this means you have to tip cash. A card tip reaches the server. Cash is faster and slightly more of it ends up in pocket. If you have a five in your wallet on a $20 bar tab, use it.
6. Tipping abroad — the short version
The US is an outlier. In most of Europe, service is included by law or by convention; tipping is a small thank-you, not a wage. In Japan and Korea, tipping can be returned or refused. In Egypt and parts of South Asia, small tips ("baksheesh") are structural and constant. The table below is the one-line summary for the most-asked destinations:
| Country | Customary restaurant tip | Norm |
|---|---|---|
| 🇫🇷 France | Round up to nearest €5 | "Service compris" is the law. |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | €1–2 / round | Coperto is a cover charge, not a tip. |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | Do not tip | Returned or refused. Bow instead. |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 10–12.5%, check bill | "Discretionary service charge" is the tip. |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | 10–15% | Cash on the table, in pesos. |
| 🇪🇬 Egypt | 10–15% + baksheesh | Small bills, often, all day. |
The full country hub has 22 destinations with the local-currency amount, the phrase to use, and the mistakes US travelers make most often.
7. Tipping in 2026 — what the data actually shows
The cultural moment around tipping is louder than it has ever been. Three numbers are worth holding in your head:
- 72% of US adults told Pew Research in 2023 that tipping is expected in more places than it was five years earlier. That number is the empirical base of the "tipping fatigue" story.
- The share of Americans who always tip at sit-down restaurants fell from 77% in 2019 to 65% in 2023 in Bankrate's annual tipping survey — a real drop, mostly driven by under-30s.
- The customary tip at counter service (coffee, bakery, fast-casual) has not become customary at all. Pew found only 25% of US adults always or often tip at counter service, and only 12% at a fast-food drive-through. The touchscreen prompts have outrun the norm by a wide margin.
Read that together and the picture is: people are not, on net, tipping more. They are being asked to tip more, and they are getting tired of being asked. The customary amounts in the table at the top of this page are unchanged from 2024. The places those amounts apply are roughly unchanged too. The new thing is the screen prompt, which is a merchant choice, not a rule of etiquette.
The 2026 fatigue piece goes into the numbers in more detail. The short version is: tip what's customary in the situation you're in. The screen suggesting 25% on a $4 coffee is not the situation you're in.
8. FAQ
What is the standard tip in 2026?
18% to 22% of the pre-tax total is the customary tip for sit-down service in the United States. 15% is the floor for adequate service; 25% or more rewards exceptional service or a difficult party.
Is it OK to tip less than 15% at a restaurant?
The industry convention is that 15% is the floor unless service was genuinely bad. The better play for poor service is to tip the floor and speak to the manager — the cooks, bussers and bar staff share the tip pool and didn't cause the problem.
Do I tip on the pre-tax or post-tax total?
Etiquette guides say pre-tax. Most people use the post-tax bottom-line number because it is printed on the bill. The difference on a $50 meal at 8% sales tax is about 80 cents. Both are accepted.
Do you have to tip on delivery if you paid a delivery fee?
Yes. The delivery fee on DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub generally does not reach the driver. The driver sees your tip before accepting the order on most platforms; a low or zero tip can mean a long wait.
Should I tip the owner?
The old "no" rule has been dropped by Emily Post, the New York Times etiquette column, and most modern guides. Tip the owner the same as you would a non-owner stylist or barber.
What is tipping fatigue?
The term refers to the documented pushback against touchscreen tip prompts for transactions where tipping has not historically been customary — counter coffee, takeout, self-checkout. Pew Research found 72% of US adults said tipping is now expected in more places than five years ago.
9. Sources
- Bankrate Tipping Survey, June 2025. "Tipping fatigue is here: who tips, who doesn't, and how much." Polled 2,492 US adults.
- Pew Research Center, November 2023. "Tipping Culture in America: Public Sees a Changed Landscape." Survey of 11,945 US adults.
- Emily Post Institute, 2024 Tipping Reference. The Institute's working list of recommended tip ranges; updated periodically by the Post family.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Last revised 2024.
- New York Times, "The Ethicist" and Dining Section. Recurring guidance on tipping math, post-2022 columns.
- National tourism boards: JNTO (Japan), VisitBritain, France.fr, Tourism Australia, Visit Mexico — used for the country-by-country norms.
- Square Tipping Trends Quarterly Report, Q4 2024. Aggregate tip-percentage data across Square-processed transactions.
This guide is updated annually. Last review: 28 May 2026.