Fewer Americans Plan to Tip Service Providers This Holiday Season: Survey

Only 21 percent of Americans plan to tip their trash and recycling collectors this holiday season, a Bankrate survey showed.

U.S. bills in Washington on Nov. 13, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

‘Tis the season for tipping less.

Service providers won’t be receiving as many tips or gifts from people this year compared with previous holiday seasons as Americans attempt to stretch every dollar more than Santa stretches to fit down the chimney, according to a new survey by Bankrate.

“Most people do care about these important community members, but they are also feeling their own financial stress, anxiety, and budget shortfalls,” consumer finance expert Bobbi Rebell said.

“That can overshadow generosity, which can be considered optional. Unfortunately, a good part of the holidays has become about making tough choices in order to avoid creating spending hangovers.”

Tipping, in general, has been flat or down in cities across the United States, but with Christmas nearly two weeks away, the coast-to-coast penny pinching could leave hardworking people with empty stockings.

Trash and recycling collectors are projected to get the lowest amount of tips this holiday season, with only 21 percent of Americans planning on giving them a tip or gift, according to the survey of 2,445 adults.

Mail carriers came in second to last; only 27 percent of Americans are projected to give them a holiday bonus. Gardeners and snow removers rounded out the bottom three, as 37 percent of people are planning to give them cash or gifts.

Those who are expected to be tipped the most are housekeepers, to whom 56 percent of Americans plan to give a bonus. Child care providers and teachers were tied for second, at 47 percent.

But even child-focused positions saw a drop in receiving a little something extra during December.

Child care providers dropped most, from 55 percent of Americans in 2024 to 47 percent this year, followed by teachers, also down to 47 percent, from 53 percent last year, the survey reported.

The size of tips hasn’t changed much among holiday tippers.

“It seems that if you’re still giving a holiday tip, you’re probably giving roughly what you gave last year,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst for Bankrate.

The survey discovered that Gen Z and millennials are more likely to tip than older generations.

“Younger consumers have grown up in a culture where tipping prompts are in more places than ever,” Rebell said.

The survey showed that 44 percent of Gen Zers (18–28) and 42 percent of millennials (29–44) offer up some extra cash because they feel obligated to do it.

“That said, feeling obligated is not the same as having the means to be as generous as you want to be or as generous as you feel pressure to be,“ Rebell said. ”The social pressure is real.”