Utahns spend the least money on tips in the country: Study

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — According to a recent study, Utahns are the worst tippers in the country–or rather, Utahns’ tips make up the smallest percentage of spending on food outside of the home in the country.

Utahns spend an average of just 4.09% on tips, which includes full-service restaurants and limited-service restaurants like fast food, in addition to drinking establishments like bars.

The study was performed by Lending Tree, who took the total amount of money Americans spent on food to be eaten away from home–restaurants, fast food, etc.–and calculated percentages of how much of that money was spent on tips for each state.

Americans spent a total of $77.6 billion on tips in 2023, which is the most recent year that has data available. At full-service restaurants, tips made up 15.02% of spending, but when you include limited-service restaurants, drinking establishments and other similar eateries, the number is just 6.75%.

Utah spends the lowest amount of money on tips, followed by Mississippi (4.91%) and Idaho (5.10%).

However, it is important to note that just because Utah spends the least amount of money on tips, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Utahns are the worst tippers. It is possible that Utahns spend more money at fast food and other quick-service restaurants where tipping is not expected.

On the other side of things, New Hampshire spends the most money on tips, a whopping 16.07%. The District of Columbia comes in second at 12.65%, and South Carolina is third at 11.17%.

Some other interesting findings from the study are that Americans are dining out more than we were in 2000. Americans spent 55.7% of food budgets on eating out, compared to 49.4% in 2000.

People in the District of Columbia spend the most per capita on eating out, with an estimated $10,291 spent per person annually on food purchased to be consumed away from home. Illinois has seen the fastest growth in spending on eating out, rising from 42.4% of the state’s total food spending in 2000 to 55.9% in 2023.