Americans have reached their tipping point.
Frustrated by rising menu prices and the ubiquitous prompts for tips for services typically not expecting gratuities, people are less likely to dig in their pockets for a little something extra.
The result is that people are tipping less at restaurants than they have in six years, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"I can see tipping culture in the U.S. cracking," Jenni Emmons, a server at an upscale Chicago restaurant, told the newspaper. "People are being pressured to tip for things they didn't used to, and I feel my income is under threat because of this."
Full-service restaurants have seen their average tips drop 19.3% for the three months ending Sept. 30, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from Toast, an operator of restaurant payment systems.
John Reilly, a doctor in Washington, D.C., said he's reaching his limit as menu prices soar.
"Restaurants have not been doing well here in D.C., and price definitely has much to do with it," Reilly, who said he sees himself as a generous tipper, told the outlet.
Over the past six years, tipping at sit-down restaurants peaked at 19.9% in early 2021, when Americans returned to restaurants after the Covid pandemic lockdowns and were happy to share their gratitude.
In 2024, about 38% of Americans said they tipped restaurant servers 20% or more, a survey by restaurant technology company Popmenu found.
But that's down from 46% of diners who did so in 2021, noting they were thinking about their budgets.
Customers are downright crabby.
As menu prices rise, they limit going out to eat and when they do they order less. To compensate, some restaurants have added mandatory tips and service fees, all of which make the bills more costly and discourage tipping.
"Instead of that second or third drink, people will go home," Andrea Hill, director of operations for HMC Hospitality Group, a Chicago operator of Hooters restaurants, told the publication. "Our servers are making less per table."
