A Free Calculator · Tip, Total & Split · Updated 2026
How much should you tip — and how do you split it?
Enter your bill, choose a tip percentage, and set the party size.
The calculator returns the tip amount, your full total, and what each
person owes — updated instantly as you type. Every formula is shown in
full, and no figure is presented as a rule.
Tip amount & total·Even bill split·Per-person breakdown
About the customs on this page
Tipping percentages are approximate U.S. social conventions — they vary
by city, establishment, and individual circumstance. None of the ranges
shown are financial advice or legal requirements. The calculator does
arithmetic on whatever inputs you supply; the conventions listed
elsewhere on the page reflect common practice, not obligations.
Enter your bill and tip percentage, then set the number of people splitting. Results update as you type. Use the quick buttons to jump to common percentages.
Your bill & tip
$
Enter the pre-tax subtotal or the post-tax total — see the FAQ for the difference.
%
Common U.S. restaurant range: 15–25%. See the tipping guide below.
people
Set to 1 for no split. The split is even — each person pays an equal share.
Your tip is
Tip amount
Total bill
Per person (total)
Per person (tip only)
The formulas, in full
Nothing here is a black box. These are the exact calculations the tool runs —
the same arithmetic you could do on paper or in your head.
How each number is derived
1 — Tip amount
tipAmount ($) = bill × tipPercent ÷ PERCENT_DIVISOR
where PERCENT_DIVISOR = 100
2 — Total bill (bill + tip)
total ($) = bill + tipAmount
3 — Per-person total (even split)
perPersonTotal ($) = total ÷ people
4 — Per-person tip share (even split)
perPersonTip ($) = tipAmount ÷ people
5 — Worked example (defaults: $50 bill, 20%, 2 people)
Tipping customs in the United States vary by service, establishment, and
region. The ranges below reflect widely observed practice — they are
approximate and editable social conventions, not rules or
financial advice. Local norms, service quality, and your own judgment
should always take precedence.
Service type
Common range
Notes
Full-service restaurant
15–25%
15% is considered a floor for adequate service; 20% is now widely treated as standard; 25% for exceptional. Tip on the pre-tax subtotal by convention.
Food delivery (app)
15–20% or $3–5 min
A $3–5 floor is common for small orders regardless of percentage. Tips are often paid at order time, before knowing the quality of delivery. Driver pay structures vary by platform.
Bar / bartender
$1–2 per drink or 15–20%
A dollar or two per drink at a busy bar is standard; tab-based service at a quieter bar follows the restaurant convention. Tab still open? Tip at close.
Coffee / counter service
Optional; $0.50–2 common
No strong social obligation at pure counter service. Tip prompts on tablets appear everywhere; selecting 0% carries no stigma here comparable to sit-down dining.
Hair / nail salon
15–20%
Owner-operated salons sometimes do not expect tips (historically service businesses, not hospitality), but 15–20% is now common practice across most stylist and nail technician relationships.
Taxi / rideshare
15–20%
Taxis: 15–20% is customary. Rideshare apps (Uber, Lyft) prompt for a tip in-app; 15–20% is common; a higher amount for a great ride is appreciated. The driver's take of the fare varies by platform.
Hotel housekeeping
$2–5 per night
Tip daily in cash — different staff may clean on different days. Left on the pillow or in a labeled envelope. Bellhop: $1–2 per bag. Concierge: $5–10 for notable assistance.
Spa / massage
15–20%
Same convention as a hair salon or restaurant. If a service charge is already on the bill, you are not obligated to add more (see the FAQ on automatic gratuities).
All ranges are approximate U.S. social conventions as of 2026 and are not financial advice.
Customs shift over time and vary by city, establishment, and individual circumstance.
When in doubt, ask a local or err toward generosity — these workers often depend on
tips to supplement below-minimum base wages.
Why tip percentages have risen over time
The "standard" tip used to be 15%; 20% is now widely treated as the baseline
for ordinary restaurant service. A few forces drove that shift.
Tipped workers earn a sub-minimum wage in most U.S. states
Under federal law, employers may pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 per hour — the federal tipped minimum, unchanged since 1991 — as long as tips make up the gap to $7.25. Most workers rely on tips for the majority of their take-home income. This structural dependence is the reason 15% has come to feel inadequate to many people, even for average service. A handful of states (California, Washington, Oregon, and others) require the same minimum wage for tipped workers, but most do not.
Payment terminals expanded tip prompts far beyond restaurants
When tablet and card-reader tip screens replaced cash tip jars, the prompt appeared at coffee counters, bakeries, food trucks, and self-checkout lanes — places where tipping had no prior custom. This created confusion about where tips are expected and guilt-tripped customers in contexts where tipping had no history. The calculator and the guide above intentionally distinguish service types, because the norms genuinely differ.
Automatic gratuities are a separate thing
Many restaurants add an automatic gratuity (18–20%) for parties of six or more, or on every check as a "service charge." This is not a voluntary tip — it is part of your bill. Check your receipt before calculating your own tip; you are not expected to double-tip. If you see "service fee," "gratuity," or "service charge" already on the bill, that line typically replaces, not supplements, an added tip.
How to compute a tip by hand
No phone? Four steps cover any percentage. The 10% anchor is the only
arithmetic you need to memorize.
Find 10% by moving the decimal one place left
On a $47.80 bill: move the decimal left one spot → $4.78. That is your 10% anchor. Every other common percentage is a multiple or fraction of this number. This step works for any bill to any level of precision.
Scale to your target percentage
For 20%, double the 10% figure ($4.78 × 2 = $9.56). For 15%, take the 10% figure and add half ($4.78 + $2.39 = $7.17). For 18%, take 20% and subtract about a ninth ($9.56 − $1.06 ≈ $8.50). For 25%, take 20% and add half of 10% ($9.56 + $2.39 ≈ $11.95). Rounding to the nearest dollar for cash is fine.
Add the tip to the bill for the total
Total = bill + tip. $47.80 + $9.56 = $57.36 (20% tip). Round the tip up to $10 if you want a clean number — $57.80 total, and the server gets a bit more.
Divide the total by the party size for an even split
$57.36 ÷ 3 people = $19.12 each. If the math is awkward, round each person's share up to the nearest dollar and pocket the change for next time, or leave it as extra tip. The only rule is that the total collected covers the bill and tip.
Where to buy
Got your numbers? Here's where to pick up what you need:
The terms that appear on a receipt, a payment terminal, or a tipping guide —
in plain English.
Tip (gratuity)
A voluntary payment made in addition to the stated price of a service, typically expressed as a percentage of the bill. In the United States, tips for restaurant servers, bartenders, and other hospitality workers make up a large share of their income because employers can legally pay a tipped minimum wage below the general minimum wage.
Subtotal (pre-tax amount)
The cost of goods or services before sales tax is applied. The conventional base for calculating a tip in U.S. restaurant dining — the server provides the food and service, not the tax revenue that goes to the government. On a $50 subtotal with 8% sales tax, the post-tax total is $54; a 20% tip on the $50 subtotal is $10.00, while 20% on the $54 total is $10.80.
Service charge / automatic gratuity
A fixed percentage (often 18–20%) added by the establishment directly to the bill, most commonly for large parties. It is not optional — it is part of the charge, collected by the business, and distributed to staff under rules that vary by state and restaurant policy. If a service charge already appears on your bill, you are not expected to add a separate tip on top.
Tipped minimum wage
The reduced hourly rate that U.S. federal law (and many state laws) allows employers to pay workers who receive tips, on the assumption that tips will bring earnings up to or above the standard minimum wage. The federal tipped minimum has been $2.13/hour since 1991. Several states have eliminated the tipped sub-minimum and require the full minimum wage for all workers; in those states, tipping is still customary but less structurally critical.
Even split
Dividing the total bill (including tip) equally among all members of a party. The fairest method when everyone ordered similar amounts. For groups with large differences in what was ordered, some parties split by individual order rather than evenly — the calculator on this page handles even splits only.
Cash vs. card tip
When you tip on a card, the restaurant processes the payment and typically distributes tips on a payroll cycle, deducting credit card processing fees (sometimes 2–3%) from the tip pool. A cash tip left on the table or handed to the server generally goes directly to the worker, without processing fees. For hotel or spa services, cash tips delivered in person are often the clearest way to ensure the intended recipient receives the full amount.
Tip pool
An arrangement where tips collected by servers are shared with other front-of-house or back-of-house staff (bussers, bartenders, hosts, and sometimes kitchen workers). Whether a restaurant tip-pools, and how, affects how much of your tip reaches any individual worker — it is an internal policy that varies by establishment.
Frequently asked
In the United States, 15–20% before tax is the widely cited custom for full-service restaurant dining, with 20% increasingly considered the standard for good service and 25% for exceptional service. 15% was once considered the floor; today many servers and industry observers treat it as the minimum for adequate service. Tipping norms vary by region, meal type (breakfast vs dinner), and establishment — these are social conventions, not laws, so the right amount is your judgment call based on service quality and local norms. The calculator above works from whatever percentage you choose.
In the United States, tipping custom is based on the pre-tax subtotal — the amount before sales tax is added. Sales tax goes to the government, not the service worker, so tipping on it inflates the amount beyond the service's value. In practice, many people tip on the post-tax total because the tax line is more visible on the receipt and the difference is small (a few percent on a meal). This calculator uses the bill amount you enter — enter the pre-tax subtotal for the conventional approach, or the post-tax total if you prefer. Both are acceptable; the key is tipping on a number that reflects what you were served.
The fairest approach is to add the tip to the total first, then divide. The formula: tip amount = bill × (tip% ÷ 100); total = bill + tip; per person = total ÷ number of people. If the party ordered similar items, an even split works well. If orders varied widely, some groups split before tipping — each person tips on their own subtotal — but that adds complexity. The calculator here does the even-split version, which is most common: compute the full total (including tip) and divide by the party size.
The most reliable mental shortcut: move the decimal point one place left on the bill to get 10%, then adjust. For 20%, double the 10% figure. For 15%, take the 10% figure and add half of it. For 18%, take 20% and subtract roughly one-ninth. Example: a $47 bill — 10% is $4.70; 20% is $9.40; 15% is about $7.05. These are approximations, but they're close enough for any real-world tip. For exact figures, use the calculator above.
For food delivery through apps (DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, etc.), $3–5 minimum per order is a common floor; 15–20% on the order subtotal is standard for typical deliveries. For large or complex orders, longer distances, or difficult weather, 20%+ is customary. Note that delivery apps often route tips differently from restaurant tips — the driver may receive all, part, or a variable portion depending on the platform's payout structure. The percentage ranges in the tipping guide on this page are approximate customs, not platform policies.
No — tipping at counter service is optional, not expected in the same way as full-service restaurants. Tablets and payment terminals increasingly prompt for a tip at every type of business, which has created confusion about norms. At counter-service cafes or fast-casual spots where you order at a register, tip jars and tip prompts are present but a 0% selection carries no social obligation comparable to full-service dining. If a barista prepared a drink with care, a small tip is a common courtesy; if you walked up, pressed a button, and grabbed a bag, the expectation is lower. These are conventions, not rules.
An automatic gratuity or service charge is a fixed percentage (commonly 18–20%) that some restaurants add directly to the check, especially for large parties (often 6 or more). It is not a voluntary tip — it's part of your bill. If a service charge appears on your check, you are not expected to add an additional tip on top (though you may if service was exceptional). Always check whether a line on your bill labeled "gratuity," "service charge," or "service fee" has already been added before calculating your own tip.
On a $50 meal with 8% sales tax ($4 tax → $54 total), a 20% tip on the pre-tax subtotal is $10.00, while 20% on the post-tax total is $10.80 — a difference of 80 cents. For a $200 business dinner the gap grows to about $3.20. The convention is pre-tax, which ensures the server's tip reflects the value of food and service, not the tax. In practice, on modest bills the difference is small and either approach is fine. Enter whichever number you want to tip on in the calculator.
Common mistakes
Tip errors are almost always a base problem — tippping on the wrong number — or a rounding shortcut applied at the wrong stage.
Tipping on the post-tax total instead of the pre-tax subtotal
A tip is a gratuity for service, conventionally calculated on the food and beverage subtotal before sales tax is added. Tipping on the total after tax inflates the effective tip percentage, since tax typically adds 6–10% to the base. The difference is small on a single check but worth understanding if you are trying to hit a specific tip rate.
Using the "double the tax" shortcut without knowing the local tax rate
Doubling the sales tax line is a quick approximation for a ~15% tip only when the tax rate is close to 7.5%. At a 5% tax rate, doubling gives a 10% tip; at a 10% rate, it gives a 20% tip. The shortcut produces wildly different results depending on where you are. Use it only if you know the local rate supports it.
Splitting the check before calculating the tip
Dividing the check equally and then each person tipping on their share produces the correct total tip only if all shares are equal. When the table splits unevenly — some ordered alcohol, some did not — calculating each share independently means some guests are tipping on a lower base. It is more accurate to calculate the tip on the full bill first, then divide the total (food + tip) by the number of diners.
Rounding down the tip base before multiplying
Rounding a $47.80 bill down to $45 before applying 20% saves $0.56 on the tip. That is the intent, but it also means the server receives less than the intended percentage. If you want to round for simplicity, round the final tip amount up to the nearest dollar rather than rounding the base down — the arithmetic is simpler and you land at or above the intended rate.