Tip Calculator

What counts as a "good" tip depends heavily on where you are and the type of service being provided. In the U.S., 15-20% is typical for full-service dining, while quick-service or counter settings often see smaller tips or none expected at all. Delivery drivers, bartenders, hairstylists, and taxi or rideshare drivers each tend to have their own informal customary range, which can differ noticeably from the sit-down restaurant standard.

Outside the U.S., tipping customs range from essentially non-existent (where service charges are already built into wages and prices) to a modest rounding-up gesture. Traveling to a country with different norms and applying U.S.-style 20% tipping can come across as either generous or, in some cultures, slightly confusing to service staff who aren't expecting it — it's worth checking local etiquette before assuming your home country's percentage applies everywhere.

Dividing the total evenly across a group is the simplest approach, and it's what this calculator does by default — but it isn't always the fairest one if orders varied a lot in price. Some groups prefer to calculate each person's individual share of the bill first, then apply the tip percentage to each person's own share. The total tip collected ends up essentially the same either way, but the per-person amounts can differ meaningfully from a simple even split when one person ordered a $40 entrée and another ordered a $12 salad.

For small, casual groups, an even split is usually simplest and avoids awkward itemized-receipt math at the table. For larger groups or noticeably uneven orders, itemizing first and then tipping proportionally tends to feel more equitable, even though it takes a little more arithmetic.

• Gratuity — another word for tip, a voluntary payment for service on top of the bill.
• Service charge / auto-gratuity — an automatic fee some venues add to the bill (often for large parties), which may replace the need for an additional tip.
• Pre-tax vs. post-tax tipping — whether the tip percentage is calculated on the bill before or after sales tax is added; most people tip on the pre-tax subtotal.

A $120 bill split among 4 people, with an 18% tip:

If instead the tip were calculated per-person on itemized shares — say one person's $50 entrée versus another's $15 appetizer — the individual tip amounts would differ even though the overall $21.60 tip stays the same. Both approaches are common; which one a group uses is mostly a matter of preference and how evenly the orders were split to begin with.

On the same $120 bill, here's how the total shifts across common tip rates:

• Tipping on top of an already-included service charge — always check the receipt for an auto-gratuity line before adding an additional tip.
• Using the same rate everywhere — tipping norms vary significantly by service type, country, and even region within a country.
• Splitting evenly on very uneven orders without discussing it — can feel unfair to whoever ordered the least; itemized tipping avoids this.
• Forgetting to round for convenience — many people round the final total up to a clean number, which effectively increases the tip slightly.