Tip Calculator
The fastest way to calculate a tip, add sales tax, and split the check between friends — all in one place. Enter your bill, pick a tip percentage (15% adequate, 18–20% standard US restaurant tip, 22–25% for excellent service), add your local sales tax rate if you want the full bill total, and split evenly across your party. Works for restaurant meals, food delivery, bar tabs, taxis, and salon services. All calculations happen locally in your browser — no signup, no data sent anywhere.
US Tipping Guide 2026
Restaurants (sit-down)
18–20% pre-tax, standard. 22%+ for excellent service. Auto-gratuity typical on parties of 6+.
Food Delivery
15–20%, $5 minimum. Add more for bad weather, stairs, or long distance.
Bartender
$1–$2 per drink OR 20% of tab, whichever is higher.
Taxi / Rideshare
15–20% of the fare. Round up for short rides.
Hair / Nails / Spa
20% is standard. Split between stylist and assistant if both served you.
Hotel Housekeeping
$3–$5 per night, left daily (staff rotate).
US Tipping Norms by Service Type
Tipping in the United States isn't optional in most service settings — it's baked into how workers are paid, and skipping it (or lowballing it) is considered a real breach of etiquette rather than a minor faux pas. The right percentage depends heavily on the type of service, how much of the work is performed table-side versus behind a counter, and whether the worker is subject to the lower "tipped minimum wage." The table below reflects typical 2026 expectations across common US service categories.
| Service | Typical Tip | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full-service restaurant | 18–20% | 22–25% for exceptional service |
| Counter service / fast-casual | 0–10% | Optional, often via tablet prompt |
| Bartender | $1–$2/drink or 15–20% | Higher for complex cocktails |
| Food delivery | 15–20%, $5 min | More for weather/distance |
| Rideshare / taxi | 15–20% | Round up for short trips |
| Hair stylist / barber | 15–20% | 20% typical, cash preferred |
| Hotel housekeeping | $3–$5/night | Leave daily, not just checkout |
| Hotel bellhop/valet | $2–$5 per bag/car | Flat rate, not percentage |
| Buffet | 10% | Less labor than full service |
Splitting Bills and Rounding
Even splits (total ÷ number of people) work well when everyone ordered roughly the same amount. When spending is uneven — someone had three cocktails while another had water — itemized splitting is fairer: each diner covers their own items, then tax and tip are divided proportionally based on each person's share of the subtotal. Most groups round up to the nearest dollar per person rather than dealing with exact cents, and it's common courtesy for the group to round the total tip up rather than down, especially in larger parties where a few extra dollars barely register per head.
Tipping on Pre-Tax vs. Post-Tax Totals
Strict etiquette calls for calculating the tip on the pre-tax subtotal, since sales tax has nothing to do with the quality of service you received. In practice, many diners tip on the post-tax total simply because it's the number printed at the bottom of the receipt and it's easier to do the math quickly. The difference is usually small — on a $100 pre-tax bill with 8% sales tax, tipping 20% pre-tax yields a $20 tip, while tipping 20% post-tax yields $21.60. Either approach is widely accepted; the pre-tax method is simply the more "correct" one if you want to be precise.
Automatic Gratuity, Tip Pooling, and the Tip Credit
Many restaurants automatically add an 18–20% "gratuity" or "service charge" line for parties of 6 or more, since large tables are harder to serve and historically saw lower per-person tipping. If this charge already appears on your bill, an additional tip isn't expected, though rounding up for outstanding service is always appreciated. Some establishments also pool tips among servers, bussers, bartenders, and kitchen staff rather than letting each server keep 100% of their own tips — a legal practice as long as it follows Department of Labor rules.
Federal law allows employers to pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour, so long as tips bring total hourly pay up to at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 (many states set a higher tipped minimum or eliminate the tip credit entirely, requiring full minimum wage plus tips). This "tip credit" system is exactly why tipping generously in the US carries more weight than in countries where service staff earn a full living wage regardless of tips — for many servers and bartenders, tips are the majority of their take-home pay, not a bonus on top of it.
How Tipped Workers Report Tips for Taxes
Tips aren't a tax-free bonus for the worker receiving them — the IRS treats cash and card tips as fully taxable income. Employees must report tips of $20 or more per month to their employer, who withholds federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare on that amount just like regular wages. Employers also use IRS Form 8027 to report total tips and food/beverage sales, and if reported tips fall below 8% of gross sales, the employer may need to allocate additional "allocated tips" to staff for tax purposes. This is part of why the tipped minimum wage system exists alongside strict tip-reporting requirements — the government expects tips to make up a meaningful share of income and taxes them accordingly.
Tipping While Traveling in the US, and Delivery/Rideshare Norms
Visitors from countries where tipping is minimal or built into prices are often surprised by how essential tipping is across the US — skipping it in a full-service restaurant is viewed very differently than skipping it abroad. Tourist-heavy cities and airport-adjacent restaurants sometimes add automatic gratuity even for smaller parties, so always check the bill before tipping again. For rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, tips are optional but appear as a prompt after the ride and go entirely to the driver; 15–20% or a flat $2–$5 for short trips is typical. Food delivery apps (DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub) let you tip before or after delivery — tipping before generally isn't linked to service speed, but many drivers prioritize orders with better guaranteed tips, so a fair tip up front (15–20%, $5 minimum) tends to result in faster, more careful service.
Quick Mental-Math Tipping Shortcuts
- 10% instantly: Move the decimal point one place left (a $64.00 bill → $6.40).
- 20% fast: Find 10% and double it ($6.40 → $12.80).
- 15% fast: Find 10%, then add half of that amount again ($6.40 + $3.20 = $9.60).
- 18% approximation: Find 20% and subtract about 10% of that number ($12.80 − $1.28 ≈ $11.52).
- Round-the-bill trick: Round the total up to the next $5 or $10 and treat the difference as your tip when the math is close to 18–20% anyway.