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  • Nevada and Las Vegas Home to Some of the Worst Tippers

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    Posted on: November 21, 2025, 12:01h. 

    Last updated on: November 20, 2025, 03:29h.

    • Restaurant tips in Nevada and Las Vegas are among the lowest in the nation
    • That’s according to Toast, a restaurant software management provider

    Tippers in Nevada are among the worst in the country, new data suggests.

    tipping culture tips Las Vegas Nevada
    The Top of the World restaurant at The Strat overlooks Las Vegas in an October 2014 file photograph. Nevada and Las Vegas are home to some of the worst tippers in the United States, new data shows. (Image: Shutterstock)

    Tens of thousands of workers in Nevada are set to receive a little bump in their net take-home pay this year with the implementation of the “No Tax on Tips” provision of the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Effective for gratuities received beginning Jan. 1, 2025, tipped workers can now deduct up to $25K in annual tips from their federal taxable income.

    While that’s big news for hospitality workers and casino employees, many of whom rely heavily on tips, restaurant management software giant Toast says Nevadans and visitors to Las Vegas are poor tippers.

    Toast’s primary product is its cloud-based all-in-one point-of-sale financial management system. Toast’s POS network is used in approximately 156K restaurants across the country.

    By analyzing millions of restaurant receipts within its network, Toast has unveiled its list of the best and worst states for tipping.

    Tipping Culture Rebounds

    Toast reports that after hitting a seven-year low in the second quarter of 2025, tipping in Q3 (July, August, September) rebounded, albeit slightly.

    Full-service restaurant tips during the three months ticked upward from 19.1% to 19.2%. Tips at quick-service restaurants remained steady at 15.8%.

    Delaware remained the best state for tipped restaurant workers, with tips at full-service restaurants averaging 21.1%. The other states where tips averaged above 20% were West Virginia (20.9%), Indiana (20.5%), Kentucky (20.4%), New Hampshire (20.4%), and Ohio (20.3%).

    Way down the list was Nevada, with average tips at full-serve restaurants coming in at just 18.2%. That was higher than only three states — Florida (18.1%), Washington (17.5%), and California (17.2%). Tips are also poor in the nation’s capital, with FSR checks in Washington, DC, averaging just 17.2%.

    While the Toast data relates only to restaurants, tips in Nevada for non-restaurant services like housekeeping, rideshares, hairstylists, and food deliveries are presumably lower than the national average, too.

    Scott Roeben of Vital Vegas often shames poor tippers in Las Vegas who win big but tip little.

    Big jackpot winners rarely tip,” Roeben said earlier this year.

    Earlier this month, a player at Park MGM hit a $1.17 million jackpot playing a Wheel of Fortune machine.

    “Sweet hit at Park MGM, despite the fact that the vast majority of million-plus winners tip zero,” Roeben wrote last month.

    tipping culture tips Las Vegas Nevada
    (Image: X)

    Tipping Culture’s Tipping Point

    More businesses and venues than ever before are soliciting tips. Customers are now prompted to tip at many quick-service restaurants, fast food chains, and coffee shops before receiving any service at all.

    Once considered a reward for excellent service, many workers now think of tips as a customer requirement. A considerable portion of the public has subsequently grown tired of being constantly asked for more money.

    A 2025 study from Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management suggests businesses would be wise to be more cautious amid tipping fatigue.

    The study suggested that it’s not that people don’t want to tip, but they’ve grown frustrated with being asked to tip before service is received or where service isn’t overly intensive (i.e., handing over a cup of poured coffee).

    “We reward people for good service; that’s the nature of tipping. But even without seeing the product or service, why am I tipping here? Customers need to justify their behavior. Asking for an additional expense without showing effort can lack legitimacy,” opined Temple Associate Professor Dr. Lu Lu.

    “Think more intentionally about when and how you ask for tips,” “There’s a way to do it that feels better for everyone,” Lu added.

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    Devin O’Connor

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  • Debate over pay of tipped workers rages as election nears

    Debate over pay of tipped workers rages as election nears

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    BOSTON — A union backed proposal to pay tipped workers the state’s minimum wage goes before voters in November, but critics say its passage would hurt Main Street bars and restaurants and drive up consumer costs.

    Question 5 asks voters in the November election to decide if the state should require bars, restaurants, hotels and other hospitality venues to pay tipped workers the state’s $15 per hour wage floor, in addition to gratuities.

    The plan calls for phasing out the tipped wage for workers over five years, allowing workers to earn up to $15 per hour and keep their tips. It would also allow restaurants to “pool” tips and distribute them equally among all workers, such as cooks, dishwashers and others who don’t interact with customers.

    Supporters of phasing out the tipped-wage law — which includes labor organizations and worker advocacy groups — say it would improve wages for underpaid workers who are struggling to survive with the state’s high cost of living.

    Saru Jayaraman, president of pro-Question 5 group One Fair Wage, said its passage would ensure that tipped workers “finally receive fair wages, giving them the financial stability they need to support themselves and their families.”

    “Since the pandemic, restaurant workers have left the industry in droves. Many of them are tired of barely scraping by on poverty wages and tips that are unpredictable at best,” she said. “It’s time we end the injustice of the subminimum wage and create an industry that truly values and compensates its workers with dignity.”

    But critics, like the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and “No on 5” Committee to Protect Tips, argue the plan would increase costs for bars and restaurants that already operate on narrow margins, and lead to higher prices for consumers.

    “This would put a massive increase on the costs of small businesses at a time when they are still recovering from COVID,” said Chris Keohan, a spokesman for the “No on 5” opposition group. “This would increase the costs of the average restaurant by about $300,000 a year.”

    He said the increased labor costs would push some bars and restaurants out of business or accelerate the shift away from full-service establishments, as employers hire less staff and move to automated operations like McDonald’s and Dunkin’s new self-serve kiosks.

    Municipal leaders representing communities including Newburyport, Methuen, Haverhill and Gardner also oppose the proposal, arguing it would devastate Main Street restaurants that are still recovering from the economic effects of the pandemic.

    Massachusetts law requires workers to be paid at least $15 an hour — under the “grand bargain” package the Legislature brokered to avert a proposal to cut the state’s sales tax and other proposals. But the 2018 law also allows bars and restaurants to pay tipped workers $6.75 per hour.

    The state is home to some 50,000 waiters and waitresses, 20,000 bartenders, and 5,000 manicurists and pedicurists, according to the latest labor data.

    If Question 5 is approved, Massachusetts would be the first state in decades to eliminate its tipped minimum wage, which observers say makes it hard to know how the transition will play out in the post-pandemic economy.

    The closest example is the District of Columbia, which is two years into a five-year phase-out of its tipped wage, the report noted. Some Washington, D.C., restaurants have set-service fees — ranging from 3% to 20% — to offset the higher labor costs. Critics point to data showing some restaurants have closed in the law’s wake.

    A recent report by Tufts University’s Center for State Policy Analysis said restaurants and other tip-dependent businesses will face higher costs from having to cover the full minimum wage, and will likely compensate for that with a mix of price increases, new fees, reduced hiring, and potentially lower profits.

    But phasing out the state’s tipped wage will translate into higher pay for most service employees who currently depend on the extra money, according to the report.

    In June, the state Supreme Judicial Court tossed out a challenge by restaurant groups alleging the proposal violates a requirement in the state Constitution that initiative petitions must contain only ‘related or mutually dependent’ subjects.

    The justices unanimously concluded that Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office correctly certified the question for the November ballot.

    The Massachusetts Restaurant Association and Committee to Protect Tips filed a complaint with the state Ballot Law Commission alleging that backers of the ballot question submitted “fraudulent” signatures from people who aren’t registered to vote, among other claims.

    But the groups withdrew their objections at the last minute, citing a lack of time to conduct a thorough review and make their arguments before the panel.

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • Question 5: Should tipped workers be paid minimum wage?

    Question 5: Should tipped workers be paid minimum wage?

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    BOSTON — A union-backed proposal to pay tipped workers the state’s minimum wage goes before voters in November, but critics say its passage would hurt Main Street bars and restaurants and drive up consumer costs.

    Question 5 asks voters to decide if the state should require bars, restaurants, hotels and other hospitality venues to pay tipped workers the state’s wage floor of $15 per hour, in addition to gratuities.

    The plan calls for phasing out the tipped wage for workers over five years, allowing workers to earn up to $15 per hour and keep their tips. It would also allow restaurants to “pool” tips and distribute them equally among all workers, such as cooks, dishwashers and others who don’t interact with customers.

    Supporters of phasing out the tipped-wage law — which includes labor organizations and worker advocacy groups — say it would improve wages for underpaid workers who are struggling to survive with the state’s high cost of living.

    Saru Jayaraman, president of pro-Question 5 group One Fair Wage, said its passage would ensure that tipped workers “finally receive fair wages, giving them the financial stability they need to support themselves and their families.”

    “Since the pandemic, restaurant workers have left the industry in droves. Many of them are tired of barely scraping by on poverty wages and tips that are unpredictable at best,” Jayaraman said. “It’s time we end the injustice of the subminimum wage and create an industry that truly values and compensates its workers with dignity.”

    But critics, like the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and “No on 5” Committee to Protect Tips, argue the plan would increase costs for bars and restaurants that already operate on narrow margins, and lead to higher prices for consumers.

    “This would put a massive increase on the costs of small businesses at a time when they are still recovering from COVID,” said Chris Keohan, a spokesman for the “No on 5” opposition group. “This would increase the costs of the average restaurant by about $300,000 a year.”

    He said the increased labor costs would push some bars and restaurants out of business or accelerate the shift away from full-service establishments, as employers hire less staff and move to automated operations like McDonald’s and Dunkin’s new self-serve kiosks.

    Municipal leaders representing communities including Newburyport, Methuen, Haverhill and Gardner also oppose the proposal, arguing it would devastate Main Street restaurants that are still recovering from the economic effects of the pandemic.

    Massachusetts law requires workers to be paid at least $15 an hour — under the “grand bargain” package the Legislature brokered to avert a proposal to cut the state’s sales tax and other proposals. But the 2018 law also allows bars and restaurants to pay tipped workers $6.75 per hour.

    The state is home to some 50,000 waiters and waitresses, 20,000 bartenders, and 5,000 manicurists and pedicurists, according to the latest labor data.

    If Question 5 is approved, Massachusetts would be the first state in decades to eliminate its tipped minimum wage, which observers say makes it hard to know how the transition will play out in the post-pandemic economy.

    The closest example is the District of Columbia, which is two years into a five-year phase-out of its tipped wage, the report noted. Some Washington, D.C., restaurants have set-service fees — ranging from 3% to 20% — to offset the higher labor costs. Critics point to data showing some restaurants have closed in the law’s wake.

    A recent report by Tufts University’s Center for State Policy Analysis said restaurants and other tip-dependent businesses will face higher costs from having to cover the full minimum wage, and will likely compensate for that with a mix of price increases, new fees, reduced hiring, and potentially lower profits.

    But phasing out the state’s tipped wage will translate into higher pay for most service employees who currently depend on the extra money, according to the report.

    In June, the state Supreme Judicial Court tossed out a challenge by restaurant groups alleging the proposal violates a requirement in the state Constitution that initiative petitions must contain only ‘related or mutually dependent’ subjects.

    The justices unanimously concluded that Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office correctly certified the question for the November ballot.

    The Massachusetts Restaurant Association and Committee to Protect Tips filed a complaint with the state Ballot Law Commission alleging that backers of the ballot question submitted “fraudulent” signatures from people who aren’t registered to vote, among other claims.

    But the groups withdrew their objections at the last minute, citing a lack of time to conduct a thorough review and make their arguments before the panel.

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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