---
title: "4. Factors affecting whether and how much Americans tip"
description: "Above all, tipping is a question of service for most Americans. Around three-quarters of adults (77%) say the quality of the service is a major factor when deciding whether and how much to tip, while 18% say it is a minor factor. Only 5% don’t consider it a factor at all. Far smaller shares point […]"
date: "2023-11-09"
authors:
  - name: "Drew DeSilver"
    job_title: "Senior Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/drew-desilver/"
  - name: "Jordan Lippert"
    job_title: "Research Analyst"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/jordan-lippert/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/2023/11/09/factors-affecting-whether-and-how-much-americans-tip/"
categories:
  - "Business & Workplace"
  - "Gig & Sharing Economies"
  - "Income & Wages"
  - "Lifestyle"
  - "Personal Finances"
---

# 4. Factors affecting whether and how much Americans tip

Above all, tipping is a question of service for most Americans. Around three-quarters of adults (77%) say the quality of the service is a major factor when deciding whether and how much to tip, while 18% say it is a minor factor. Only 5% don’t consider it a factor at all.

[![Bar chart showing that 77% Americans say quality of service is a major factor in whether to tip. 77% also say quality is a major factor in how much to tip. ](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/SR_23.11.09_tipping-culture_04_01.png?w=640)](https://www.pewresearch.org/2023/11/09/factors-affecting-whether-and-how-much-americans-tip/sr_23-11-09_tipping-culture_04_01-png/)

Far smaller shares point to other potential factors. For example, only about three-in-ten adults say a service worker’s pre-tip wages are a major factor when deciding whether and how much to tip.

About a quarter of Americans say social pressure to leave a tip is a major factor in deciding whether and how much to tip. And similar shares say a major factor in these decisions is how much the tip will cost them as the customer.

***Related: ****[Do You Tip More or Less Than the Average American?](https://www.pewresearch.org/2023/11/28/do-you-tip-more-or-less-often-than-the-average-american/)*

In every demographic and partisan group examined, Americans are more likely to point to the quality of the service than to any other factor when deciding *whether* to leave a tip or not. But there are still some demographic and partisan differences over this and other factors:

- **Service quality is by far the most cited factor across all age groups, but younger Americans are more likely than older people to consider certain other factors.** For example, adults under 30 are more likely than those 65 and older to point to workers’ pre-tip wages, social pressure and cost as major factors when deciding whether to leave a tip.

- **Upper-income Americans are more likely than those with middle and lower incomes to say social pressure is a major factor in deciding whether to tip. **Conversely, the cost of the tip is more likely to be a major factor in this decision for middle- and lower-income Americans than for upper-income adults.

- **Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to see quality of service as a major factor. **Democrats, in turn, are more likely than Republicans to cite some other factors. For example, 35% of Democrats – compared with 27% of Republicans – say a worker’s pre-tip wages are a major factor when deciding whether to leave a tip or not. Liberal Democrats are especially likely to see this as a major factor (41% do so).

These demographic patterns are broadly similar when Americans are asked about the factors they take into account when deciding *how much* to tip.

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**Next:** [Acknowledgments](https://www.pewresearch.org/2023/11/09/tipping-culture-acknowledgments.md)