Consumer Trends

Survey: Millennials are terrible tippers

Some 10% of millennial diners say they never leave gratuity when dining out.
Unsplash Sam Truong Dan

No other demographic group tips as little as millennials when dining out, according to a new survey.

One in 10 millennials say they don’t tip servers when dining out, compared to 3% of older consumers, according to data from the marketplace site CreditCards.com, which surveyed 1,000 people.

When they do tip, millennials don’t tip as much as others: The median restaurant gratuity for millennial diners is 15%, less than the overall median of 18%. Some 51% of restaurant consumers older than 38 normally tip at least 20%, the survey found.

Interestingly, 30% of the youngest group of millennials, ages 18-27, said they would rather pay more for food in restaurants than having to leave a tip. Just 13% of baby boomers agreed.

Restaurants across the country continue to struggle with gratuity-related issues, including tip credits, tip sharing and whether to ditch tips entirely in favor of adding service fees to checks.

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