Tip Calculator

About Tip Calculator

This calculator multiplies the bill by the tip percentage, adds the tip, and divides the total evenly among everyone at the table. Preset buttons cover 10, 15, 18, 20 and 25 percent, and you can type any other rate, including 0 for countries where tipping isn't expected.

The arithmetic is simple. The friction comes from two places: amounts that don't divide evenly into cents, and deciding what number to tip on in the first place. Both are covered below, along with how tipping customs differ between the US and the places where this site's other readers live.

When the split doesn't come out even

Shares are split to the cent. A $118 total split three ways is $39.333…; if all three pay $39.33 the table hands over $117.99 and is a cent short, and rounding each share up would overpay instead. So the tool shows the share rounded down to the cent, $39.33, and assigns the leftover cent to one person with a note: “one person pays $39.34”. Collected that way, the shares add up to the total exactly.

Turning on Round up per person rounds each share up to the next whole dollar (or euro). In the example above everyone pays $40, the table pays $120, and the extra $2.00 is reported as additional tip. The tool then recalculates the effective tip percentage, which here rises from 18% to 20%. That is useful information when a group is paying in cash: rounding up by a dollar each is a bigger tip increase at a small bill than at a large one.

If the group is settling through a payment app instead of cash, rounding is unnecessary. Have one person pay the odd cent and send exact amounts.

What percentage is normal, and where

The tip rate is a local custom, not something a calculator can decide. In the US, 15–20% is the conventional range for table service, but actual behavior is lower than the etiquette advice suggests. In a 2023 Pew Research Center survey of nearly 12,000 adults, 57% said they would tip 15% or less for an average sit-down meal (including 2% who would leave nothing), and only 25% said 20% or more.

One reason US tips are treated as close to mandatory is the wage structure. Under federal law, employers may pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour and count tips toward the $7.25 minimum wage. Many states set a higher floor, but the federal baseline explains why skipping the tip is seen as cutting someone's pay.

• Japan: the Japan National Tourism Organization says tipping is not common in restaurants, bars, taxis or hotels. If you do give a gratuity, it is customary to put it in an envelope.
• Spain: the consumer organization OCU notes that tipping is voluntary and no rule obliges customers to leave one. Leaving small change or rounding up is common.
• South Korea: the official Seoul tourism site says tipping is not a Korean custom.

Tipping before or after tax

US receipts list sales tax separately from the menu subtotal. There is no fixed rule about which figure the tip should be based on, and many people tip on the pre-tax subtotal. This tool applies the percentage to whatever you enter as the bill, so enter the subtotal if that's your preference. On an $80 subtotal with 8% tax ($6.40), a 20% tip is $16.00 on the subtotal and $17.28 on the $86.40 total, a $1.28 difference that grows with the bill.

Also check the receipt for an automatic gratuity or service charge, which many restaurants add for larger parties. If it's already there, set the tip to 0% (or tip only the extra you intend to add) so you don't pay the tip twice.

In Japan, Korea and Spain, displayed menu prices already include consumption tax or VAT, so the question rarely arises.

Worked examples

How to use it

1. Enter the bill; use the pre-tax subtotal if you tip before tax.
2. Pick a tip preset or type a rate (0 where tipping isn't customary).
3. Set the number of people and turn on round-up if you're paying in cash.

Frequently asked questions