01
Enter your check total
Type the check total from the receipt. For the standard custom, enter the pre-tax subtotal so the tip is figured before sales tax.
Restaurant tipping guide
Restaurant Tip Calculator
Work out the right tip before the server brings the card machine. Enter the check, pick 15%, 18%, or 20%, and split it if you are with a group. Twenty percent is the standard tip for good service in the US. The restaurant tip calculator below shows the tip, the total, and each person's share at once.
Smart Calculator
Your tip, total, and per-person share, updated as you type.
Breakdown
Each person pays$51.00
Tip / Person$8.50
Total Tip$17.00
Tax$0.00
Grand Total$102.00
How much should you tip your server?
Tip 20% of the pre-tax bill for good service at a sit-down restaurant. Eighteen percent is standard, and 15% is now low. On a $60 check, 20% is $12 and the total is $72. The calculator applies the rate you pick to your exact check, so you never guess at the table or short the server by accident.
Tip on the pre-tax subtotal to follow the standard custom. The guide to tipping at a restaurant explains each rate in full, and the tax guide settles the before-or-after question with real numbers.
With a group, split the full total evenly so the tip stays fair for everyone. The split bill calculator handles groups of any size and shows each share down to the cent.
What is the standard restaurant tip?
Twenty percent of the pre-tax bill is the standard tip for good service. Eighteen percent is common and accepted, while 15% now reads as low for table service. On a $50 check, 20% is $10, 18% is $9, and 15% is $7.50. Use the calculator above to work out the tip on your own check.
How do you use the restaurant tip calculator?
Enter the check total, pick 15%, 18%, or 20%, and set the number of diners if you are splitting. The calculator shows the tip amount, the grand total, and each person's share at once. It uses the amount you enter, so enter the pre-tax subtotal when you want to follow the standard custom exactly.
02
Pick 15%, 18%, or 20%
Tap 20% for good service, 18% for standard service, or 15% when service was only adequate. You can also type any custom percentage you want.
03
Split it if you need to
Set the number of diners to divide the check and the tip evenly. Each person's share shows at once, ready to pay or share.
How much is the tip on common check totals?
On a $100 check, the tip is $15 at 15%, $18 at 18%, and $20 at 20%. The table shows the tip at all three rates on checks from $25 to $200. All tips are figured on the bill before tax, which is the standard custom. Find your check amount in the left column and read across.
| Check total | 15% tip | 18% tip | 20% tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25.00 | $3.75 | $4.50 | $5.00 |
| $50.00 | $7.50 | $9.00 | $10.00 |
| $75.00 | $11.25 | $13.50 | $15.00 |
| $100.00 | $15.00 | $18.00 | $20.00 |
| $150.00 | $22.50 | $27.00 | $30.00 |
| $200.00 | $30.00 | $36.00 | $40.00 |
Tips are figured on the bill before tax. Twenty percent is the standard tip for good service.
What does the math look like on a real dinner check?
Two diners share a $64 check before tax. A 20% tip is $12.80, so the total is $76.80. Split evenly, each diner pays $38.40. The steps below show the same math the calculator runs, so you can follow each number from the check total to the final share.
The formula is simple
Tip Amount = Bill Amount × Tip Percentage
Total Bill = Bill Amount + Tip Amount
For example: $64 × 0.20 = $12.80 tip. $64 + $12.80 = $76.80 total. Split two ways: $76.80 / 2 = $38.40 each.
At 18%, the tip on $64 is $11.52 and the total is $75.52. At 15%, the tip is $9.60 and the total is $73.60. The gap between 15% and 20% is only $3.20 on this check, but it means a lot to the person who served you.
Check the receipt before you add a tip. If a service charge is already printed on the check, ask what it covers before you tip on top of it.
The rates
What should you tip at a restaurant?
Tip 20% of the pre-tax check for good service at a sit-down restaurant. Fifteen percent is the floor for adequate service, and 25% is generous for service that goes beyond the basics. The rate applies to the food and drink subtotal before sales tax, not to the total after tax.
15%
The floor
Adequate service. The food arrived, the server did the job, nothing stood out. On a $50 check, 15% is $7.50.
20%
The standard
Good service. Attentive, accurate, on time. On a $50 check, 20% is $10. This is the rate most US diners aim for.
25%
Generous
Standout service. The server handled a big group, a special request, or a long table with care. On a $50 check, 25% is $12.50.
Pick the tier that matches the meal you just had. A server who kept the water filled, fixed a wrong order fast, and never rushed the table earned the top tier. A server who vanished for twenty minutes did not. The calculator takes the tier you pick and applies it to your exact check, so the math never gets in the way of the judgment.
What changes it
What changes the tip at a restaurant?
Five things move the tip off the standard rate: how good the service was, how big the party is, whether the bar ran a separate tab, whether a service charge is already printed on the check, and whether you used a discount or coupon. Each one has a clear rule, and none of them calls for guessing.
Service quality
The main lever. Attentive and accurate earns 20% or more. Slow, wrong, or rude drops it toward 15%. Tip the service you got.
Party size
Parties of six to eight often see an automatic gratuity of 18% to 20% printed on the check. Read the receipt before you add anything.
The bar tab
Drinks ordered at the table tip at the same rate as food. Drinks at the bar itself run $1 to $2 per drink, or 15% to 20% of the tab.
Service charges
A printed service charge is not a tip. Under IRS Revenue Ruling 2012-18, an automatic gratuity is a service charge, and the house decides how it is shared. Ask before you tip twice.
Discounts and coupons
Tip on the full menu price, not the discounted total. The server did the same work for a $40 check marked down to $25.
Takeout from the same kitchen
Counter pickup is not table service. Ten percent or a few dollars is the common range, and zero is not a slight for a bag handed over a counter.
The data
What do the numbers say about restaurant tipping?
Real payment data puts the average full-service tip at 19.1% in the second quarter of 2026, according to Toast, which tracks card and digital tips across about 180,000 restaurant locations. That average sits just under the 20% standard, which tells you most diners tip close to the rule, not far above it.
19.1%
Average tip at full-service restaurants in Q2 2026, per Toast platform data. Quick-service restaurants averaged 15.8%.
57%
Of US adults tip 15% or less for an average sit-down meal, per Pew Research Center (2023). A quarter tip 20% or more.
The wage side explains why the tip matters so much. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 an hour, with a maximum tip credit of $5.12 against the $7.25 federal minimum, according to the US Department of Labor. Toast reported that full-service servers earned a median base wage of $6.24 an hour plus median tips of $21.48 an hour in September 2024. For most servers, the tip is the wage.
Pew Research Center surveyed 11,945 US adults in 2023 and found that 72% say tipping is expected in more places than it was five years ago, while 92% say they always or often tip at sit-down restaurants. The pressure is real, and so is the habit. A fixed rule, 20% for good service on the pre-tax check, takes the decision out of the moment and keeps it fair for the server and for you.
Tricky situations
What trips people up with restaurant tips?
Four situations cause most of the confusion at the table: the check already includes a gratuity, the card machine suggests 25% or more, the bill is split across several cards, and the meal was bad through no fault of the server. Each has a simple answer.
The check already includes a gratuity
Look for "service charge" or "gratuity" printed above the total. If it is there, you have already tipped at the house rate, usually 18% to 20% for large parties. Add more only when the service beat the rate. Never add a full second tip on autopilot.
The card machine suggests 25%, 30%, 35%
Preset screens start high because the house sets them. The preset is a suggestion, not a rule. Pick "custom" or "other amount" and enter 20% of the pre-tax check. It takes five seconds and it is always allowed.
The kitchen got it wrong, not the server
Cold food and long waits from the kitchen are not the server's fault. Tip the service you received from the person, and tell the manager about the kitchen. Cutting the server's tip for a kitchen mistake punishes the wrong person.
Splitting across cards
Ask for separate checks before ordering when the group wants them. After the fact, split the full total, tip included, and settle each card's share. The split bill calculator shows each share down to the cent.
Worked example
What does the math look like on a large-party check?
Six friends share a $240 check before tax, and the restaurant adds an 18% automatic gratuity for the party size. The gratuity is $43.20, so the check total is $283.20 before sales tax. The group decides the service earned 20%, so they add the $4.80 gap and pay $288.00, which is $48.00 each.
The math, step by step
$240 × 0.18 = $43.20 automatic gratuity
$240 × 0.20 = $48.00 target tip at 20%
$48.00 − $43.20 = $4.80 extra to reach 20%
$240 + $48.00 = $288.00 total · $288.00 / 6 = $48.00 each
Check the receipt first. If no gratuity is printed, the full 20% is $48.00 on $240, and the same six friends pay $48.00 each all in.
What else do people ask about restaurant tipping?
Restaurant tipping questions usually cover the right rate, the pre-tax question, group splits, and the math on a real check. The answers below give the standard rate for each case with real dollar amounts. For delivery, salon, and rideshare rates, the calculators on the hub page cover each service on its own.
How much should you tip at a restaurant?
Tip 20% of the pre-tax bill for good service at a sit-down restaurant. Eighteen percent is the standard rate many diners use, and 15% is now low. On a $60 check, 20% is $12, so the total is $72. Tip more when the service stands out, and less only when service falls short.
Should you tip on the pre-tax or post-tax total?
Tip on the pre-tax subtotal, which is the long-standing custom. Sales tax goes to the state, not to your server, so it is not part of the service. In practice the difference is small, often a dollar or two on a dinner check. If you tip on the full total instead, no server will mind the extra dollar.
How do you split a restaurant tip with a group?
Add the tip to the check, then divide the total by the number of diners. On an $80 check with a $16 tip, the total is $96, so four diners pay $24 each. Splitting the total keeps the math simple and the tip fair. For uneven orders, use the split bill calculator and settle each person's share by item.
How much is a 20% tip on a $45 check?
A 20% tip on $45 is $9, so the total is $54. Find it fast: 10% of $45 is $4.50, and doubling it gives $9. At 18%, the tip is $8.10 and the total is $53.10. At 15%, the tip is $6.75 and the total is $51.75. The calculator works out all three rates in seconds.
Which calculator or guide do you need next?
The split bill calculator handles group dinners, and the salon calculator covers haircuts and color. See all tip calculators on the calculators hub when you need a different tool.
Free, no sign-up
Ready to work out the tip on your check?
Use the restaurant tip calculator above to get the exact tip and total in seconds. Enter the check, pick 20% for good service, and split it if you are with a group. It is free, it needs no sign-up, and it shows every number in the breakdown so you can pay with confidence.
