Tip

Square, the technology focused payment processing company, has recently released data revealing which US States and Cities tip the most, and least, as reported by Roberto Ferdman. The information is based on tens of millions of Square transactions from across the country, and suggests some interesting trends that are in line with what other analysts have estimated. According to Square, American's tip between 14% and 17% on average, with pretty large discrepancies between states. The states that came out on top, with the most generous tips on average, were Alaska (17%), Arkansas (16.9%) with North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia tied for third (16.7%). The list continues through the other 45 states, down to the most frugal tippers on average, South Dakota (15.3%), Hawaii (15.1%) and miserly Delaware (14%). Square also provides breakdowns for major cities, with Denver (16.8%), Chicago (16.7%) and Tampa (16.4%) leading the pack. The nationwide average tip amount, according to Square, is roughly 16.1%. Square's data also includes the percentage of transactions that included a tip, broken down by state. Illinois comes out on top, with 61% of Square transactions including a tip, followed closely by Alaska at 60.5%. Contrast that with Delaware - the state with the lowest average tip percentage - where only 38% of transactions included a tip (restaurant workers may want to avoid that state when job hunting!). The articles author does point out that while the data seems to parallel the tip estimates of other analysts, the data may be skewed. Square is a credit card processor and, as such, only counts tips paid by credit. This means that some transactions marked as "no tip" may have actually involved a cash tip, and could also mean that true average tip percentages are lower or higher than indicated. Additionally, studies have shown that patrons generally tip more when paying by credit, vs cash, and Square recently redesigned their app's interface to making tipping even easier, with great anecdotal results. For a full breakdown of the data, check out the source link below. What are the average tips in your restaurant? Does your experience line up with Square's data? Let us know what you think via Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. Source: Quartz,