‘Tipping culture is out of control’: Study reveals which states tip the most and least

Toast recently published a restaurant trends report which analyzed the average amount a diner tipped per state

In a nation where tipping has become an integral part of dining culture, a few U.S. states stand out as particularly generous.

Takeout app Toast’s latest trends report analyzed data from restaurants that use its checkout system, where customers added a tip through a credit or debit card or digital payment. Cash tips were not included.

Through the first quarter of 2025, Delaware, West Virginia, and New Hampshire were the states that tipped the most, with customers from those states adding an average of 21 percent or higher. Delaware was ranked the highest with diners tipping an average of 22.1 percent.

Customers in California and Washington were found to have tipped the least, with an average of 17.3 and 17.8 percent, respectively.

Toast’s report also discovered that tipping at full-service restaurants has increased slightly from the last quarter of 2024 (19.3 percent) to the first quarter of 2025 (19.4 percent).

Customers in Delaware tip the most, with an average of 22.1 percent (Getty Images)

According to the report, tipping at quick-service restaurants has not changed, with the number remaining at an average of 15.8 percent.

The increase in tipping comes shortly after Bankrate, a financial publisher and comparison service, released a survey that saw at least 63 percent of U.S. residents having a negative view of tipping, up from 59 percent last year.

There have not been significant declines in tips for service providers, the survey noted, particularly for hairdressers and restaurant servers.

“Tipping is part of the American way of life — it's not going away anytime soon, as much as we may grumble about it,” said Ted Rossman, a Bankrate senior industry analyst.

Still, opinions vary. One survey respondent said: “I feel like businesses should pay their employees better rather than relying so much on tips.” Forty-one percent agreed, up from 37 percent a year ago.

Another said, “Tipping culture has gotten out of control.”

But there are other aspects of tipping that have irritated customers recently.

38 percent of U.S. residents said they were annoyed with pre-entered tip screens, an increase from 34 percent last year.

27 percent of respondents said they were less likely to tip when presented with pre-entered tip screens. Twenty-five percent of people said the same thing a year ago. Only 11 percent of respondents said they tipped more in those scenarios, a decrease of 14 percent.

When asked about the possibility of getting rid of tipping altogether, 16 percent of people said they would be willing to pay higher prices if tipping were eliminated, an increase of 14 percent.