Tipping and Money in NYC, Explained for Visitors

Pricing in America works differently than almost anywhere else, and New York takes that difference and doubles it. This is the guide I wish somebody had handed my cousin before he left a two-dollar tip on a ninety-dollar dinner. He could not understand why the server looked like that.

The price is never the price

Sales tax gets added at the register, not printed on the tag. In New York City that’s 8.875 percent on most things.

The exceptions are worth knowing. Clothing and shoes under $110 per item are tax-free, and most actual groceries are untaxed. Prepared food, hot food and anything from a restaurant are taxed.

So the $8 sandwich is $8.71, and the $18 cocktail is $19.60 before you’ve tipped. Budget accordingly.

How much to tip in NYC

It is not optional here, and it isn’t really about generosity. Tipped workers in New York are paid a lower base wage that legally assumes tips will make up the difference. When you skip the tip, you’re not making a statement about service. You’re taking money out of somebody’s rent.

• Sit-down restaurant: 18 to 20 percent
• Bar: a dollar or two per drink, or 20 percent on a tab
• Delivery: 15 to 20 percent, five dollars minimum, more in bad weather
• Taxi or rideshare: 15 to 20 percent
• Barber, nails, spa: 20 percent
• Hotel housekeeping: three to five dollars a night, in cash, left daily rather than at the end. Different people work different days.
• Counter coffee: genuinely optional. Nobody will chase you down.

The fast math: your receipt already shows the tax line. Double it. That lands you just under 18 percent, and you didn’t have to think about it.

The iPad screen

You will get flipped a tablet asking for 20, 25 or 30 percent at a bakery where you pointed at a croissant and somebody handed you the croissant.

You can press “No Tip.” It’s a real button. Nothing happens. Nobody says anything.

Tip for service, not for a screen swiveling toward you. New Yorkers are as tired of this as you are.

Cash or card in NYC

Cards work nearly everywhere, and tapping your phone works almost as widely. City law requires most businesses to take cash as well, so you shouldn’t get turned away.

Still, keep about forty dollars in small bills. Bodegas sometimes have card minimums, street food carts are often cash only, and tips are easier in cash. And there’s always one great cash-only place that’s been there since 1968 and isn’t changing for you.

Some bars and restaurants add a card surcharge. It has to be posted, though “posted” occasionally means a small sign by the register you’ll notice afterward.

Costs more than you expect

• Cocktails: an ordinary bar charges what used to be fancy-bar prices
• A bottle of water at a deli: a few dollars
• Hotel breakfast: a small fortune for eggs
• Cab from JFK to Manhattan: flat fare, plus tolls, plus surcharges, plus tip

Costs less than you expect

• The subway and the bus
• The NYC Ferry
• A slice of pizza
• Every free museum
• The beach

The math of a good New York day is simple. Spend nothing getting there, spend nothing getting in, and spend your money on one really good meal.

Watching the budget? Our NYC on a budget guide has what a day actually costs, and where the money leaks.

Questions about anything in this guide? Reach MUSEENYC at museenyc.art@gmail.com or @museenyc on Instagram.

Spend it on the good stuff. We’ll tell you what that is → museenyc.com