How Much to Tip

Updated October 24, 2026

In the US, the usual tip at a sit-down restaurant is 15% to 20% of the bill before tax: about 15% for acceptable service and 20% for good service. On an $84.50 bill, that's $12.68 to $16.90.

How much to tip, service by service

These are the common US guidelines, in line with the Emily Post Institute's tipping advice. Percentages are of the bill before tax.

Tip chart

The tip for common bill amounts at four rates. For any other amount, Tip & Split works it out for you.

Tipping at restaurants

Why the percentage is so high

In much of the US, servers are paid a low base wage and earn most of their income from tips. Federal law lets employers pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 an hour in cash, counting tips toward the rest of the minimum wage, and they must make up any shortfall. Several states, including California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Minnesota, Montana and Alaska, require the full state minimum wage before tips. Either way, tips make up a large share of a server's pay, which is why 15% is treated as the floor for acceptable service rather than a reward.

When to tip more

• Great service. 20% or more is the usual way to say so.
• A long stay. If you hold a table well past your meal on a busy night, the server loses a table they could have served.
• Extra work. A large or complicated order, many special requests, or a celebration with extra setup.
• Discounts, coupons and comped items. Tip on what the meal would have cost at full price. The server did the same work.

When service was poor

First, separate the server from the kitchen: a slow kitchen or a cold dish usually isn't the server's doing. If the service itself was the problem, tell a manager while you're still there, so it can be put right. Leaving a smaller tip is a common way to show disappointment, but leaving nothing at all, with no word to anyone, rarely helps anyone understand what went wrong.

Large parties and service charges

Many restaurants add an automatic gratuity or service charge for larger groups, and it's usually stated on the menu. Check the bill before tipping so you don't tip twice. Note that under federal rules a mandatory service charge isn't legally a tip: it belongs to the restaurant, which decides how much reaches the staff. If that matters to you, it's fair to ask.

Counter service and tip screens

The tablet that swings around at a coffee counter or a fast-casual restaurant, suggesting 20%, 25% or 30%, isn't a rule. Tipping at the counter is optional. Choose the amount you'd normally give, enter a custom one, or skip it. A dollar or so for a regular order, or a bit more when someone goes out of their way, is plenty.

How to work out a tip in your head

Start from 10%, which is the bill with the decimal point moved one place left, and build from there.

Rounding the tip up to a whole dollar is common and always welcome. For 20%, double the bill and drop the last digit: about $85 doubled is $170, so the tip is about $17.

Before or after tax?

Tipping on the bill before tax is standard and perfectly acceptable. Tax isn't part of the service. On most bills the difference is small: at 8% tax, a 20% tip on the total instead of the subtotal adds about $1.35 to an $84.50 meal. If tipping on the total is easier, that's fine too.

Splitting the bill

Splitting evenly is simplest: add the tip to the whole bill, then divide by the number of people. That's exactly what Tip & Split does when you fill in People.

Paying for what you ordered works the same way, one person at a time: each person tips on their own share. Run Tip & Split once per person with their subtotal and leave People empty. Shared dishes and drinks can be split evenly first and added to each person's share.

Either way, make sure the tip covers the whole table. It's easy for a group to underpay when everyone rounds their own share down.

More on the fair ways to divide a check, the cents problem and shared costs in how to split a bill.

Tipping outside the US

US tipping rates don't travel well. In much of Europe, service is included in menu prices or added as a service charge, and leaving a little extra, or rounding up, is a kind gesture rather than an obligation. In Japan, tipping generally isn't customary. Canada's customs are close to those in the US. When in doubt, check the bill for a service charge and ask locally.

Using Tip & Split

coolca.lc's Tip & Split Solver works out the tip, the total and each person's share at once. It has four slots: Bill, Tip %, People and Pay.

1. Open Tip & Split. It's ready for your numbers.
2. Type the bill, such as 84.50, and tap Bill.
3. Type the tip percentage, such as 18, and tap Tip %. Leave it empty for no tip.
4. To split the bill, type the number of people and tap People. Leave it empty if you're paying alone.
5. Tap Pay, which shows SOLVE. The display shows what each person pays, and the line above it spells out the tip and the total.

To try a different tip, type the new percentage and tap Tip % again. Pay updates right away.

Working backward from a round total

Want to leave an even $100 on that $84.50 bill? Tip & Split can tell you what tip that is.

1. Type 100 and tap Pay.
2. Type 84.50 and hold Bill for a moment. Bill shows SOLVE once Pay has a value, since it could work Bill out for you, and holding stores your number instead.
3. Tap Tip %, which shows SOLVE.