Americans often voice their frustrations over the ubiquity of tipping, but that hasn’t stopped them from giving generously to reward good service.
Consumers spent an estimated $77.6 billion on tips for food purchased at restaurants, bars and other eateries in 2023, according to a new study by LendingTree. The analysis, which draws on the most recent government data available, gives readers a snapshot of how much Americans tip and in which states they tip the most. It found that tipping rates tend to be higher in states where people eat out more.
LendingTree also looked at which states drop the most money to dine out. Hint: It’s not New York as some might suspect.
See where your state ranks in terms of tipping below.
Where do people tip the most?
New Hampshire residents are the No. 1 tippers in the country, according to the LendingTree study. On average, they leave a gratuity of 16.07% of spending on food away from home — falling within the standard range of 15% to 20% tips at restaurants. New Hampshire’s average tipping rate is four times that of the nation’s lowest tipping state, which is Utah at 4.09%.
But that’s not to say Utah residents are stingy. As LendingTree points out, average tipping rates hinge on how much people in each state spend on food outside the home — which includes full-service restaurants as well as fast food place and even vending machines. In other words, not all food that’s consumed outside the home is purchased at establishments where tipping is common.
“If people in one state tend to dine at full-service restaurants far more often than those in another state, it stands to reason their overall percentage spent on tips would be higher,” LendingTree Chief Consumer Financial Analyst Matt Schulz wrote in the study.
Next in line after New Hampshire is Washington D.C. Denizens of the U.S. capital tip roughly 12.65% on average, when they eat out.
LendingTree’s data indicates that the highest tippers tend to be located on the East Coast, while the lowest are concentrated in the South and Western U.S. See the full rankings below.
New Hampshire: 16.07%District of Columbia: 12.65%South Carolina: 11.17%Minnesota: 10.11%North Carolina: 9.75%Washington: 9.51%Vermont: 9.31%Nebraska: 9.12%Rhode Island: 8.54%Maine: 8.18%Indiana: 7.96%Delaware: 7.77%New York: 7.27%Massachusetts: 7.26%Florida: 7.23%New Jersey: 7.02%Connecticut: 6.83%Montana: 6.81%Illinois: 6.70%Colorado: 6.52Pennsylvania: 6.44%Hawaii: 6.39%Michigan: 6.39%Oregon: 6.38%North Dakota: 6.30%Oklahoma: 6.25%Alaska: 6.25%Tennessee: 6.22%Nevada: 6.19%Louisiana: 6.16%California: 6.15%Virginia: 6.13%Missouri: 6.02%Texas: 6.00%Wyoming: 5.96%Georgia: 5.92%Ohio: 5.88%Kansas: 5.76%Maryland: 5.73%Wisconsin: 5.67%West Virginia: 5.66%Iowa: 5.60%Arizona: 5.57%South Dakota: 5.50%Kentucky: 5.45%New Mexico: 5.43%Arkansas: 5.26%Alabama: 5.21%Idaho: 5.10%Mississippi: 4.91%Utah: 4.09%
Which states spend the most on dining out?
Spending at restaurants and bars has climbed in recent years as Americans swap home cooking for dining out. In 2023, spending on dining out represented approximately 56% of Americans’ food budgets, a 13% increase from 2000.
“Since the percentage of spending on food consumed away from home plunged in 2020 due to the pandemic, there have been three consecutive years of significant growth,” Matt Schulz wrote.
According to LendingTree’s analysis, people eat out the most in the nation’s capital. D.C. residents spent $10,291 on dining out in 2023, about $3,500 more than residents in Nevada, the runner up. Illinois, on the other hand, saw the biggest increase in money spent on eating out, with dining expenditures climbing 13.5% from 2000 to 2023.
Below are the top 10 states in per-capita spending on dining out.
District of Columbia: $10,291Nevada: $6,752Hawaii: $6,628California: $5,072Massachusetts: $4,626Colorado: $4,579New York: $4,424Rhode Island: $4,412New Hampshire: $4,224Washington: $4,182
The role of tipping in America
With the federal minimum wage for tipped workers set at $2.13 an hour, many workers in service jobs such as waiters, hairdressers and bartenders lean heavily on tips to subsidize their income. Even with tips they still may not reach the standard minimum wage of $7.25, in which case employers are required to step in and make up the difference, per the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Tipping in the service industry has recently come into focus with the “No Tax on Tips” — a provision baked into the GOP spending bill that would remove federal taxes from tips for workers who earn less than $160,000. If passed, “No Tax on Tips” could offer relief to the 4 million people in the U.S. who work in tipped occupations, about 2.5% of all U.S. workers, according to the Yale Budget Lab.
