Pressure to Leave a Good Tip Is Up. But Tipping Itself? Not So Much

Temi Adeoye feels like she is a good tipper at food establishments, but recently wondered if others are tipping as much as she does.

Adeoye, a 28-year-old content creator and comedian in New York City who also works in marketing, posted a TikTok video asking if people still tip 20% or more as she does.

Maybe not.

According to the latest report from Toast, which has tracked tipping behaviors on its app for its restaurant partners since 2022, the average tip at restaurants in the United States is under 20%. Toast is a digital platform built for restaurants.

The overall average U.S. restaurant tip across all restaurant types held steady at 18.8% in the first quarter of 2026.

Is 20% Still the Norm for Tipping?

Adeoye posted: “My whole life, I’ve been tipping 20%. I assume that was like the generous average and most of my friends tip similarly. But recently, whenever I go to restaurants and it has like the automatic tip thing, it’ll start at 20 and then like go up to 25 and sometimes we’re even like skipping 20 and going straight to 22.”

“Now the way that my mind works, 22 and above is for like excellent service, and I rarely tip under 20 unless they do something crazy…So my question is, is 20% still appropriate?” Adeoye asked.

Adeoye said she made the TikTok video in April because “I was honestly curious about what’s accepted” about tipping and she was slightly taken aback by the higher “suggested” tip prompts, she told USA TODAY.

“I’m not trying to short people, and I feel like it’s really frustrating when other people do,” Adeoye said.

Adeoye’s TikTok followers gave a range of percentages in their answers. Most said they similarly tipped 20% while one woman said she tipped 25% to 30%, but said it may be because she’s in Arkansas, “which makes that a lot easier to do than if I lived in large and more expensive city.”

Adeoye said she was shocked that some people said they were tipping 15% to 18%, and some people also said they weren’t tipping at all. But they could have been tourists from other countries, where tipping culture could be different, Adeoye said.

How Much Are Americans Tipping?

The average restaurant tip at Toast restaurants in the United States is 19.3% at full-service restaurants and 15.8% at quick-service restaurants as of the first quarter of 2026, according to the new report. A quick-service restaurant is typically counter service or fast-food, where you place your order at a counter, kiosk, or drive-thru, Brian Koerber, Toast director of brand journalism and news, told USA TODAY.

The data is based on aggregated card and digital tip transactions from restaurants on the Toast platform, which has about 171,000 locations in the United States. Cash tips were not included in the analysis.

At full-service restaurants, tips dipped to a seven-year low of 19.1% in the second quarter of 2025, then moved up to 19.2% through the second half of 2025.

“Full-service guests consistently tip several points higher than quick-service guests, a gap that Toast data has tracked for years,” the report said.

Tips at quick-service restaurants in the United States have been flat at 15.8% for six consecutive quarters, down from a pandemic high of 16.5%, Koerber said.

“Toast research suggests guests value personal interaction and are less inclined to tip for automated or counter-service experiences, which helps explain the persistent gap between QSR (quick service restaurant) and FSR (full service restaurant) tip rates,” the report said.

The average tip for takeout service at a Toast restaurant in the United States is 13.7% in the first quarter of 2026.

“Takeout still tends to draw the lowest tips of any service model, and many guests don’t tip at all, likely because there’s less direct service involved than when sitting down with a server,” Koerber said.

Have Tipping Patterns Changed Since COVID?

Aggregate tip percentages rose during the first few years of the pandemic, then began to ease in 2023 and have since stabilized, Koerber said.

“After the pandemic run-up and the 2023 pullback, both full-service and quick-service tipping have settled into a consistent range. That’s good news for servers, who can count on a steadier baseline,” he said.

Guests tipped more during the pandemic for takeout since that was the main way people enjoyed restaurant food, and people wanted to support restaurants and their staff, Koerber said.

Tipping Supports Workers, Consumer Says

Adeoye tips 15% for takeout since she wants to support the people who package the food.

Adeoye has tipped at some quick-service restaurants mostly because she doesn’t like conflict, but understands how some people may or may not want to tip at places where you order your food at a counter.

“If someone asks me to my face” for a tip or turns the screen and there is a tip prompt, “I’d say yes.” But typically at a fast-food restaurant, she is not leaving a tip, Adeoye said.

She has also had cashiers or restaurant counter workers push the “skip” button themselves for tips before swinging the screen around — and appreciates that.

Ultimately, Adeoye said she’d rather have food servers earn good wages, not rely on tips, and have a system in which prices include tips.

“In my ideal world, I would prefer it (tipping) to not be a thing,” she said. “I’d prefer everyone be paid well.”

Where Do People Tip the Most and Least?

Delaware tips the most (22.1% overall at both restaurant types) while California tips the least (17.3%), according to the report. The “overall tips” were calculated by taking the total amount of tips divided by Gross Processing Volume.

It is not the average of full-service and quick-service tips for the period, Toast said.

Here’s the top 10 states that tip the most:

1. Delaware: 22.10%
2. West Virginia: 21.00%
3. New Hampshire: 20.90%
4. Indiana, Ohio, and Wyoming tied at 20.70%
5. Kentucky 20.60%
6. Maine: 20.50%
7. Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin tied at 20.20%
8. Iowa, Montana, and Rhode Island tied at 20.10%
9. Michigan: 20.00%
10. Nebraska 19.90%

Here are the 10 states that tip the least:

1. California: 17.30%
2. District of Columbia: 17.50%
3. Washington: 17.80%
4. Nevada: 18.20%
5. Florida: 18.30%
6. Louisiana: 18.50%
7. Texas and Hawaii tied at 18.60%
8. New York, New Jersey, and Mississippi tied at 18.70%
9. Georgia: 18.80%
10. Utah and Arkansas tied at 18.90%