ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Cheap tippers in Florida are giving the entire Sunshine State a bad rap.
In a ranking of states with the most generous tippers, Florida fell practically to the bottom at No. 48 out of 50.
The study was published by the digital payment platform Toast — the one that brings up a screen with tip amounts to choose from once you tap your credit card.
According to data from the restaurant software company, Floridians tipped an average of 18.3% in the last quarter of 2022.
Only two states ranked worse: Washington with an 18.2% average tip and California with 17.5%.
This study only looked at the 79,000 restaurants nationwide on the Toast platform where a tip was added to the order via a card or digital payment. Cash tips were not factored in.
The top five states with the most generous tippers on Toast's list are:
- Delaware- average 21.8%
- Indiana- average 20.8%
- Wyoming- average 20.8%
- Kentucky- average 20.7%
- West Virginia- average 20.6%
This comes at a time when inflation and rising food prices have everyday Americans feeling the pressure in their wallets, but it certainly isn't good news for Florida servers working to make a living.
Recently, the owners of two Red Mesa restaurants had to shell out nearly $200,000 after the U.S. Department of Labor discovered Red Mesa Cantina and Red Mesa Restaurant withheld tips earned by bartenders and servers to pay for customers who skipped out on their bills.
A total of $190,730 in back wages and liquidated damages were recovered for 89 affected workers as a result of the investigation.