Study: Californians are the least-generous tippers in the nation

While California has its fair share of high rollers, not everyone is willing to share the wealth, a new report on restaurant tipping shows.

According to Toast Inc.’s second-quarter Restaurant Trends report, tips are up nearly 10% nationwide compared to last year. Toast is point-of-sale software that restaurants and other businesses can use to ring up customers.

“The appetite for in-person dining remained strong in Q2 through rising inflation, economic uncertainty, and COVID-19 subvariant spikes,” according to Toast.

In-person diners are tipping on average 19.7% around the country – but not in California. The average tip size was 17.5% in California, the lowest of all 50 states.

California does have one of the country’s highest minimum cash wage laws for tipped employees, according to the Department of Labor. That means California service workers could still be taking home significantly more in income, despite the slimmer tips. (However, they also have to contend with the state’s high cost of living.)

If you were wondering which other states tipped the least, they include:

• California (17.5%)
• Washington (18.3%)
• Florida (18.5%)
• New York (18.5%)
• Hawaii (18.8%)
• Texas (18.8%)
• Nevada (18.8%)
• Louisiana (18.9%)
• New Jersey (18.9%)
• Arkansas (18.9%)

Here are the top 10 states for the most generous tippers:

• Indiana (21%)
• West Virginia (20.8%)
• Ohio (20.7%)
• Delaware (20.7%)
• Kentucky (20.7%)
• Wyoming (20.5%)
• New Hampshire (20.4%)
• Wisconsin (20.3%)
• South Carolina (20.3%)
• Pennsylvania (20.2%)

The report also showed that diners were less likely to tip as much when ordering delivery or takeout, tipping an average of 14.5%.

“This trend remains similar to Q1 2022’s findings, where diners on-premise tipped more than off-premise diners,” Toast found.

(Sources : ktla.com)