Bad news for restaurant workers: Tipping in America is on the decline

One way to learn more about someone is to look into their eating habits. And that’s just what Toast did.

This week, the digital platform—which restaurants use for transactions—released new data about which states dine out the most, how much people are tipping, and what foods are most loved in different states. Here’s what to know:

The good news: a summer bump

Overall, the report shows that restaurants in coastal cities are seeing slight growth, at least during the summer months, while results around the country are pretty varied.

Naples, Florida; Portland, Maine; Chicago, Illinois; and Charleston, South Carolina, are among the cities that have seen the biggest bumps.

The bad news: tipping slips

The report shows the average tip for a full-service restaurant meal has fallen to 19.1%, which is the lowest that Toast has recorded in seven years.

This even shows a decrease from the first quarter of 2025, when customers were tipping an average of 19.4%. 

While the decline could indicate that more people are leaving cash tips instead of tips on their cards—which is what Toast records—it could also be a result of “tipflation,” which is a trend that appeared when non-service businesses started requesting tips.

Delaware tops the list with the highest average tipping percentage at 21.4%, while California ranks lowest with an average of only 17.3%. 

As for popular foods, the coastal states are leading the demand for burgers, with Hawaii ordering 72% more burgers per restaurant location than the national average, and 59% more fries.

Alaska and Washington take the second and third spots at 64% and 52%, respectively.

Of course, the coastal states also take the lead in the seafood category, with Rhode Island ordering 164% more seafood, followed by Louisiana at 154% and Delaware at 128%. 

Overall, the results show 24 states experiencing growth, 13 remaining flat, and 14 states declining in transaction numbers when compared to the same time last year.

The good news for the states experiencing dips? Many of these destinations will probably improve during the winter months, as they’re more traditional cold-weather travel spots.

To curate these results, Toast compared year-over-year transaction data from June 1 through July 15, 2025, at the same restaurants and on the same days of the week.