Aug 12, 2024

Question of the Day: What is the average restaurant tip for full-service and quick-service meals?

Here's a tip on how U.S. diners are leaving gratuity. 

 

Answer:

  • Full-service: 19.4%
  • Quick-service: 16%

 

Questions:

  • What is your personal tipping policy? How do you feel about the practice of tipping?

  • Have you ever worked at a job where part of your compensation was based on tips? What was that experience like?

  • What factors do you think impact how much people tip?

  • This data only includes people who paid with a card or electronic payment. Do you think it would differ it included cash tips? Why or why not?

 

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

 

Behind the numbers (toast):

"Overall, tips remained generally flat in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023, which is good news for restaurant employees. Total tips averaged 18.9% in Q1 2024, the same as Q4 2023. Full-service restaurant tips also remained flat at 19.4%., and so did quick-service restaurant tips, which averaged 16% in Q1 2024. Total average tips and tips at full-service restaurants have remained flat since Q2 2023. Quick-service restaurant tips have remained relatively unchanged, hovering between 16.1% and 16% since Q2 2023."

 
"Tipping rates are from applicable restaurants on the Toast platform where a tip was added to the order via a card or digital payment. Cash tips and transactions without tips are not included in the analysis."
 
 
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On the subject of tips, can you make any as an Uber driver? Try this Uber driver simulation in the NGPF Arcade and find out.

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Want to learn more about the rationale behind our financial decision making? Check out NGPF's Behavioral Economics unit.

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson

Kathryn (she/her) is excited to join the NGPF team after 9 years of experience in education as a mentor, tutor, and special education teacher. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management and has a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. Kathryn is looking forward to bringing her passion for accessibility and educational justice into curriculum design at NGPF. During her free time, Kathryn loves embarking on cooking projects, walking around her Seattle neighborhood with her dog, or lounging in a hammock with a book.

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