Tipping Culture: When the Heck Should You Actually Tip?

A 2026 study found that men are twice as likely as women to tip between 21% and 25%, while women tend to tip between 11% and 20%. The same research showed that over 70% of people let the quality of service determine how much they tip, and that 32% of people now tip more than they did before the pandemic, while another 32% tip less because of inflation. These numbers capture the unsettled state of American tipping culture, where expectations shift by the day and even money experts disagree with each other.

The baseline: sit-down restaurants and personal services

Rachel Cruze and George Kamel agree on the core of tipping. For full-service, sit-down restaurant meals, both default to 20%. Cruze will go higher for excellent service but never below 15%, even for bad service — she assumes the waiter might be having a hard day. Kamel is similarly generous, reasoning that "if they're terrible, they're gonna think I'm crushing it." Both tip 20% for nail services and hair stylists or barbers, though they note a caveat: if the stylist owns the salon and has baked their price into the service, the obligation loosens. Kamel still tips anyway because he "doesn't want the smoke."

The gray zone: delivery, rideshares, and takeout