Liberal Strongholds Home To America’s Stingiest Tippers

Some of America’s most liberal jurisdictions are home to the country’s stingiest restaurant tippers.

California, Washington state and Washington, D.C., ranked near the bottom of the country for tipping during the second quarter of 2026, with diners leaving less than 18% on average, according to Toast data reported by Axios. California has one of the highest marginal state income tax rates in the country, while Washington enacted a 9.9% tax rate on incomes over $1 million.

California and Washington ranked among the lowest-tipping states during the fourth quarter of 2025 also, according to Toast’s restaurant trends report. California averaged 17.2%, while Delaware led the country at 21.8%.

Diners tipped roughly 19% on average across all restaurant types during the second quarter of 2026, essentially unchanged from the first quarter, according to Axios.

Delaware, West Virginia and New Hampshire, meanwhile, topped the rankings, with diners leaving around 21% on average.

Americans have increasingly expressed frustration with tipping culture even as their actual tipping habits have remained relatively steady. A 2025 Bankrate survey found 41% of Americans believed tipping culture had gotten “out of control.”

The low-tipping jurisdictions also include places with relatively high minimum wages, offering one possible explanation for the geographic divide. The Toast data, however, do not establish why tipping rates differ among states.

Toast’s figures are based on transactions at restaurants using its platform and do not include cash tips.

Activists garnered enough signatures in July to place a one-time 5% billionaires tax on the ballot for November’s midterm elections, threatening to further exacerbate the flight of wealth from the state.

Democratic Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed into law a 9.9% tax on incomes over $1 million on March 30. Democratic Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson also threatened grocery chains in her city during a September 2025 campaign event, saying she wouldn’t allow chains to close their doors and threatened to institute government-run grocery stores.

Wealthy business moguls, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, both moved their residences out of California. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced in March he was moving from Washington to Florida.

At the federal level, President Donald Trump signed into law a tax exemption provision on tipped income on July 4, 2025, after campaigning on the policy during his 2024 presidential campaign.