Tip Calculator

How the tip calculator works

A tip is a percentage of the bill. Multiply the bill by the tip rate over 100, add that back to the bill, then divide by the number of people. On the default example a 68.50 dollar dinner at 18 percent gives a 12.33 dollar tip, an 80.83 dollar total and 40.42 dollars each for a table of two. The calculator keeps full precision under the hood and rounds only when it shows you the numbers, so the shares always add back to the total.

How much to tip in the United States

For sit-down restaurant service, 18 to 20 percent of the pre-tax bill is the going rate in 2026, and 15 percent now reads as a quiet complaint. Counter service and takeout run lower, where nothing is expected and 10 percent already feels generous. To do 20 percent in your head, move the decimal one place left and double it, so 68.50 becomes 6.85 and then 13.70. The preset buttons do the same job and save you the arithmetic.

Gratuity and tip mean the same thing on an American receipt, so this doubles as a gratuity calculator. The wrinkle worth knowing is automatic gratuity. Plenty of restaurants add 18 to 20 percent on their own for parties of six or more, and it lands on the bill as a service charge. Once that line is there your job is done, and tipping again on top stays rare.

Splitting the bill without the awkward cents

Splitting evenly is where the math gets fiddly, because a clean total almost never divides into clean shares. A 245 dollar bill for six at 20 percent comes to 294 dollars, which happens to land on an even 49 dollars a head. Most tables are not that lucky. The round up option handles it by lifting each share to the next whole dollar, then rebuilding the total and the real tip from there. On the 68.50 dollar example each of the two shares becomes 41 dollars, the total climbs to 82 dollars and the effective tip works out to about 19.7 percent rather than 18. The server earns a little more, nobody digs for coins and the calculator still shows the true percentage you paid.

Tip on the pre-tax or post-tax amount?

Etiquette guides agree the tip belongs on the pre-tax subtotal, since tax never pays for the service. The practical gap is tiny. On a 68.50 dollar bill with 8 percent tax, tipping 18 percent on the post-tax total costs you about 99 cents more. A lot of people still tip on the final number because it is the one printed in bold. Enter whichever amount you think is fair in the bill field and the calculator does the rest.