The Best and Worst Tippers in America, Graphed

Attention data nerds: Here's a pretty exhaustive graph showing where America's best and worst tippers live, per data provided to news blog Quartz by payment service Square. The statistics, which Quartz says were compiled from "tens of millions of food-service transactions across the US," can hardly be considered a definitive judgment on the tipping habits of Americans seeing as how the data is only representative of credit card transactions made through Square — and as Quartz further points out, many establishments that use Square "charge at the counter, often before food is served or taken out" — but nonetheless it shows some interesting trends.

For example: "At restaurants, the national average tip is 16.5% of the bill, but falls to 14.6% in Nevada and rises to 20.1% in West Virginia," says Quartz, while "more than two-thirds of Alaskans tip at coffee shops but only 19% of people in New Jersey do." Also, "the average tip left at cafes in the US is north of 18%, with South Carolina the best state for baristas, and Hawaii the worst."

The data can also be viewed state by state, which allows for discovery of some more interesting comparisons — like the fact that in California and New York, where food trucks/carts are plentiful, only 25 and 22 percent of people tip them; meanwhile, 45 percent of their Washington counterparts leave a tip on such transactions.

· Where the Best and Worst Tippers in America Live [Quartz]
· All Tipping Coverage on Eater [-E-]