A survey published on Bankrate in June shows that about 63% of Americans have at least one negative view about tipping. Still, the percentage of people who always tip has stabilized in recent years, Bankrate found.
The number of people who agreed with statements like “I feel like businesses should pay their employees better rather than relying so much on tips” or “tipping culture has gotten out of control,” increased over the past year, Bankrate wrote. The survey didn’t see any significant declines in tipping activity, however. Of those surveyed, 10% said they always tip the same amount, regardless of the quality of service — the same amount as last year.
As Bankrate noted, “it seems we’re not throwing in the towel on tipping just yet.
“Tipping is part of the American way of life — it’s not going away anytime soon, as much as we may grumble about it
,” Ted Rossman, Bankrate’s senior industry analyst, said in a statement.
Other findings in the tipping survey
Broken down by age, millennials and those in Gen Z were the least frequent tippers. Gen X and boomers were more likely to tip, Bankrate said.
When it comes to what kind of services people are tipping for, 35% give at least 20% at sit-down restaurants, which is down from the 37% in 2024. For five out of nine service providers Bankrate asked about, a larger percentage of people said they “always tip” them compared to last year.
Exceptions were hair stylists and barbers (54%, a decrease from 2024’s 55%); coffee shop baristas (18%, a decline from 20%) and home services or repair people (9%, a decrease from 10%).
Sixteen percent of survey takers said they’d be OK with shelling out more money if tipping was done away with. But with technology letting more businesses ask for tips in new ways, Rossman doesn’t think that will happen.
“We’re being asked for more tips in more places, and I believe the trend will continue,” Rossman told USA Today.
