Why do I have to tip, and how much?
Short answer
Because the wage assumes it. Federal law lets an employer pay a tipped worker $2.13 an hour in cash, as long as tips carry the total to the minimum wage — so the tip is closing a gap, not rewarding service.
The number behind the custom
The federal cash wage for a tipped employee is $2.13 an hour. The employer may count tips toward the rest of the minimum wage — a tip credit of up to $5.12 — and must make up the difference only if tips fall short. That $2.13 has not moved since 1991.
This is why tipping here does not behave like tipping elsewhere. In a country where the tip is a bonus on top of a full wage, leaving nothing is rude. In one where the tip is most of the wage, leaving nothing takes the wage.
Where the reason changes
The Labor Department publishes a state-by-state table, and the states do not agree. Some allow the full federal tip credit, some allow a smaller one, and some require the employer to pay the whole minimum wage before any tips at all.
In that last group the tip really is a bonus — the same gesture, resting on a different structure. It does not change what you leave, because the custom is national even where the wage law is not, but it explains why servers in some states talk about tips very differently from servers in others.
So what do you actually leave
At a sit-down restaurant, 15 to 20 percent of the pre-tax total is the ordinary range, and 18 is a safe middle. Counter service where you carry your own food has no such expectation, though a tip jar will be there.
Two things trip visitors up more than the percentage. Tip on the pre-tax amount, not the total with tax. And check the bill first — if a service charge is already printed on it, that is a separate matter, and the next question covers what it legally is.
Good to know
- Federal cash wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour, unchanged since 1991
- 15–20% of the pre-tax total at table service; 18% is a safe middle
- Some states require the full minimum wage before tips — the Labor Department publishes the table
- Check the bill for a service charge before adding a tip
No. Tipping is not expected, and money left behind is usually treated as forgotten, not as a gift.
No. Tipping is not customary, and handing over extra money will often be refused outright.
Optional, and never expected at street level. Leaving the coins from your change is the usual gesture.
Not required, and not a local habit. It has become common only where tourism is the main business.
No. Tipping is not a Korean custom and staff do not expect it. Where a charge exists, it is printed on the bill as a service charge.
No. Sit-down restaurants may add a service charge, and where they do, that settles it.