INDIANAPOLIS — In case you were wondering — yes, Hoosier hospitality is real. Don't believe us? New data shows Indiana residents were, for the second quarter in a row, the best tippers in the country, and that's despite inflation.
The data comes from a second-quarter restaurant trends report from Toast, a platform that was built for restaurants and serves about 68,000 locations across the U.S.
The report, Toast explained, provides visibility into the overall state of the restaurant industry. And, the state of the industry... it looks pretty good.
Despite being challenged with rising food costs, inflation and labor shortages, restaurants are seeing strong demand and generosity from customers with consistent tips. The report also said restaurant sales have recovered to levels not seen since before the pandemic.
That's good news for restaurants, which saw massive dips in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The glowing report went as far as to say that tipping fatigue may be a myth. The report said that even though prices of goods were up, the average tip amount is up nearly 10%, which shows people's willingness to tip remained strong during economic challenges.
So where's that willingness to tip the strongest? Why, Indiana, of course.
It's the second quarter in the row that Indiana has been in the top spot. This quarter, Hoosiers on average tipped 21%.
Indiana was followed by West Virginia at 20.8% and Ohio at 20.7%.
Care to guess what state's the worst? Well, that falls into the hands of Californians, but this requires a bit of context. Although Californians tipped the least with an average tip of 17.5%, the state has one of the highest minimum cash wage laws for tipped employees in the country.
Californians have a minimum wage for tipped employees of between $14 and $15 depending on the size of the business.
For reference, Indiana has a minimum wage for tipped employees of $2.13.
If you're curious, here's how all states ranked:
- Indiana, average tip of 21%
- West Virginia, 20.8%
- Ohio, 20.7%
- Delaware, 20.7%
- Kentucky, 20.7%
- Wyoming, 20.5%
- New Hampshire, 20.4%
- Wisconsin, 20.3%
- South Carolina, 20.3%
- Pennsylvania, 20.2%
- Michigan, 20.2%
- New Mexico, 20.1%
- Maine, 20%
- Montana, 19.9%
- Iowa, 19.9%
- Missouri, 19.8%
- Colorado, 19.8%
- Kansas, 19.8%
- Rhode Island, 19.8%
- North Dakota, 19.7%
- Idaho, 19.7%
- Virginia, 19.7%
- Nebraska, 19.6%
- Alabama, 19.6%
- Maryland, 19.6%
- Tennessee, 19.5%
- Georgia, 19.5%
- North Carolina, 19.5%
- Arizona, 19.5%
- Oklahoma, 19.4%
- South Dakota, 19.4%
- Illinois, 19.3%
- Oregan, 19.3%
- Alaska, 19.3%
- Mississippi, 19.3%
- Massachusetts, 19.2%
- Vermont, 19.2%
- Connecticut, 19.1%
- Minnesota, 19%
- Utah, 19%
- Arkansas, 18.9%
- New Jersey, 18.9%
- Louisiana, 18.9%
- Nevada, 18.8%
- Texas, 18.8%
- Hawaii, 18.8%
- New York, 18.5%
- Florida, 18.5%
- Washington, 18.3%
- California, 17.5%
