Courteous

Salon tool · Tipping

Tip calculator: how much to tip, by service

Pick the service, enter the pre-tax bill, say how it went. We’ll show the customary range from our cited tipping guide, split it among your party and round it up if you like.

Free · No sign-up · Built on cited sources · Updated October 2026

The tip calculator

1. What was the service?

Etiquette guides tip on the pre-tax amount.

Good

people

Suggested tip

$12.00–$16.00

Tip rate
15–20%
Total
$92.00–$96.00
Each person
—

For good table service, 15–20% of the pre-tax bill is customary.

Range from our US tipping guide, based on the Emily Post Institute.

The ranges behind the calculator

The calculator uses only the customary US ranges from our tipping guide, which follows the Emily Post Institute’s general tipping guide. Where etiquette gives a description rather than a number, so does the calculator.

Customary tips in the United States, October 2026
ServiceCustomary tipNotes
Sit-down restaurant15–20% of the pre-tax billThe server’s wage often depends on it. Tip on the full value if you used a coupon or comp.
Food delivery10–15%, minimum a few dollarsMore for bad weather, long distances or large orders. On a small order, give at least a few dollars.
Taxi or rideshare15–20%Add a little for help with luggage.
Hair stylist or barber15–20%Assistants who wash hair can receive a few dollars separately.
Bartender$1–2 per drink, or 15–20% of the tabTip per round if you pay as you go.
BuffetAbout 10%For the staff who clear plates and refill drinks.
Hotel housekeeping$2–5 per nightLeave it daily with a note, since staff may change.
Valet$2–5Usually when your car is returned.
Takeout, coffee, counter serviceOptionalA small tip for complex or large orders is gracious, not required.
Hotel bellhop or porterA few dollars per bagMore for heavy or awkward items.
MoversVaries by jobCold drinks plus a per-person cash tip for a long or difficult move is customary.

How the calculator decides

Each service carries the customary US range from our tipping guide, which follows the Emily Post Institute’s general tipping guide. The quality slider places you inside that range rather than beyond it: good service lands in the middle, exceptional service at the top. For services tipped by the night, the car or the drink, the calculator multiplies the customary dollar amount instead of using a percentage.

Two services get words, not numbers. A bellhop customarily receives “a few dollars per bag,” and a moving crew’s tip “varies by job.” Rather than make up a figure, the calculator shows the guidance our sources give.

Why US tips are so large

In the United States, the tip is often part of a worker’s wage rather than a bonus. Federal rules let employers pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour and count tips toward the rest of the minimum wage (29 CFR Part 531). Many states require more, but the custom of tipping a sit-down server 15–20% grew up around that structure.

72%say tipping is expected in more places than five years agoPew, 2023
35%of diners typically tip 20% or moreBankrate, 2025
38%are annoyed by pre-entered tip screensBankrate, 2025

What people actually tip

Customary ranges and real behavior differ, and it helps to know both. In Pew Research Center’s 2023 survey, 57% of adults said they would leave 15% or less for an average meal, while about a quarter would leave 20% or more. Bankrate’s 2025 survey found that 35% of diners typically tip 20% or more, with a steep generational gradient: 16% of Gen Z versus 49% of baby boomers.

The calculator shows the etiquette range, not the average. Where you land inside it is yours to decide.

Splitting the bill gracefully

  • Agree on the tip first. Settle the percentage before anyone pays so one person isn’t left topping up a short tip.
  • Tip on the pre-discount value. If someone used a coupon or a gift card, base the tip on what the meal would have cost.
  • Large table, upper range. Many restaurants add an automatic gratuity for six or more; if they don’t, large parties take more work and the upper end of the range is kind.
  • Check for a service charge. If gratuity is already included, an additional tip is not expected.

For the full reasoning behind each range, read the US tipping guide. Traveling? Customs abroad can be the opposite of home; try the tipping-around-the-world explorer. And for the people who help you all year, see holiday tipping.

Frequently asked questions

How do I work out a 15% or 20% tip in my head?

For 20%, move the decimal point one place to the left to get 10%, then double it: on a $64 bill, 10% is $6.40, so 20% is $12.80. For 15%, take that 10% and add half of it again: $6.40 + $3.20 = $9.60.

Should I calculate the tip before or after tax?

Before. Etiquette guides such as the Emily Post Institute suggest tipping on the pre-tax amount, which is why the calculator asks for the bill before tax. Tipping on the full total is a small, generous rounding-up and never wrong.

How do we split the tip in a group?

Agree on the tip before the cards come out, add it to the bill, then divide the total. The calculator does this for you and can round each person’s share up to a whole dollar so no one is left covering a shortfall.

What does the service-quality slider change?

It moves you within the customary range: ‘Good’ sits in the middle, ‘Exceptional’ at the top. ‘Disappointing’ stays at the low end, because etiquette guides advise a reduced tip plus a word with the manager rather than no tip at a sit-down restaurant.

Why doesn’t the calculator give a number for movers or bellhops?

Because our sources don’t. The customary guidance is ‘a few dollars per bag’ for a bellhop and ‘varies by job’ for movers, so we show that advice instead of inventing a figure.

Sources

  1. Emily Post Institute — General Tipping Guide
  2. Pew Research Center — Tipping Culture in America: Public Sees a Changed Landscape (Nov. 2023)
  3. Bankrate — Tipping survey 2025 (YouGov, 2,277 U.S. adults, April 2025)
  4. Bankrate — Press release: 63% of Americans have a negative view about tipping (June 2025)
  5. eCFR — 29 CFR Part 531 (tip credit and $2.13 cash wage)

Statistics are quoted from the linked publishers as of October 2026. See our methodology.

Money & service

How much to tip (US guide)

Customary ranges for every common service, what Americans actually do according to recent surveys, and a calm way to handle the tablet that swivels toward you at the counter.

6 min read

Money & service

Holiday tipping guide

A practical year-end list for the people who help you all year, what surveys say others give, and the rules (like the mail carrier’s gift limit) that trip people up.

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Travel & culture

Tipping abroad

American tipping habits don’t travel well. Here’s what official tourism boards say about gratuities in popular destinations, and how to work it out anywhere else.

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