The Tipping Point: How Tips Impact Incomes

The Tipping Point: How Tips Impact Incomes Are you a generous tipper? Your waitress hopes so, since your tips might pay her rent. For many of today's service workers, tips can account for up to 60 percent of their income. The next time you calculate your tip, remember the following information and consider bumping that 15 percent gratuity up to 20 percent. WAITER / WAITRESS BASE PAY: TIPS: % INCOME IN TIPS: $5.10/hr $6.90/hr 58% Small paycheck with a side of hard work? Coming right up. Typically, waiters/waitresses earn only $5.10 per hour. Tips account for an additional 58 percent of their income, which means your gratuity is likely paying their rent. BARTENDER BASE PAY: TIPS: % INCOME IN TIPS: $7.70/hr $8.30/hr 52% The person who pours your drinks and moonlights as your therapist, referee, and security guard typically earns just $7.70 per hour. Tips account for an additional 52 percent of his or her income, a percentage that would have most of us crying in our beer. VALET BASE PAY: TIPS: % INCOME IN TIPS: $8.10/hr $5.10/hr 39% Earning a typical hourly rate of $8.10 per hour, many valets probably can't afford to buy the fancy cars they find themselves driving. In addition to a low hourly wage, valets often earn more than half of their income from tips. So be generous with your gratuity and they might make sure nobody dings your door. 4 TAXI DRIVER BASE PAY: TIPS: % INCOME IN TIPS: $12.80/hr : $5.00/hr 28% It might be easier to hail a cab in New York City than it is for a cab driver to earn a living wage. $12.80 is a typical hourly wage for a cabbie, who depends on the generosity of his passengers to make up an additional 28 percent of his income with tips. HAIRDRESSER / HAIRSTYLIST BASE PAY: TIPS: % INCOME IN TIPS: $11.10/hr : $3.00/hr 21% Your stylist keeps you curled, coifed, and up on the latest gossip. For all that work, he or she typically makes $11.10 per hour, in addition to 21 percent of income coming directly from tips. DOORMAN BASE PAY: TIPS: % INCOME IN TIPS: $12.70/hr : $2,80/hr 18% Your doorman signs for packages, holds the door, carries your shopping bags, and even keeps out unwanted guests. How much is he earning for these valuable services? Probably around $12.70 an hour, with tips making up an additional 18 percent of his income. BARISTA SS BASE PAY: TIPS: % INCOME IN TIPS: $8.70/hr E $1.20/hr 12% Imagine a world in which sleep-deprived zombies had to make their own coffee every morning - scary, right? Enter the barista, savior of the world's weariest workers, pulling shots of caffeine to energize you for your day. And if you are awake enough to throw some money into that tip jar, your barista will appreciate it, since typically he or she only makes $8.70 an hour. Methodology. All data are provided by online salary database Payscale.com. Base Pay and Tip numbers reflect the national (US) median for each job. :::: PayScale Source: http://www.payscale.com/tipping-chart-2012