Diners in Delaware appear to be the nation’s most generous tippers, while customers in California are the most miserly, according to a new analysis of dining trends at more than 164,000 restaurants across the United States. Toast, a Boston-based restaurant-tech company, found that people eating out in the First State had an average tipping percentage of 21.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 21.1 percent the previous quarter. California retained its status as the country’s stingiest gratuity giver, at 17.2 percent, unchanged from the previous year. Delaware is joined at the top by West Virginia, New Hampshire, and Indiana, with California joined at the bottom by D.C., and Washington state. The broader data shows tipping habits have flatlined nationally, remaining at 19.2 percent between the third and fourth quarters of 2025, suggesting that despite growing complaints about “tipflation” and rising unaffordability, Americans’ generosity at the register is holding steady.
Read it at Axios
