Survey Finds Men Tip Better Than Women

(WWJ) Men tip better than women at restaurants, according to a potentially controversial new survey by CreditCards.com — leaving at least a 20 percent gratuity on average.

Women tip a median of 16, according to the survey, while one of every five diners say they stiff the wait staff completely, or tip only occasionally.

Rudy McPhail of Detroit agrees that men are better tippers, telling WWJ's Charlie Langton he leaves "at least 10 percent."

However, how that dollar amount may be higher or lower, based on several factors.

"Depending on the service... Being polite, being swift with my meal, checking to see if I need something else after I've already maybe almost completed my meal, you know?" McPhail said. "Show me some attention."

Whitney Martin, a server at Kirby's Coney Island in Bloomfield Township, said she once received a $100 tip.

"They had like a bowl of soup and an iced tea and he left me a note and said — it was a guy, too — he left me a note and said, 'God put it on my heart to leave you a good tip,'" she said. "I was like crying, in tears."

From Martin's experience, wait staff will get better tips from customers of the opposite sex.

Jessica Stevens, who also works at Kirby's, disagrees. She said women tend to be the most generous tippers, so she will pay extra attention to the ladies.

"I compliment her on her jewelry or how nice her nails look or her hair looks," Stevens said.

Would she do the same with a man?

"If he's with another female then I won't go there," she said, with a laugh.

The same survey found that Republicans tip better than Democrats and that southerners are among the stingiest.

The survey also examined Americans' tipping habits at other places: 27 percent of hotel customers always tip their hotel housekeeper, while 31 percent never do; 29 percent who visit coffee shops always tip their barista, while 30 percent never do; and 67 percent always tip their hair stylist/barber, while 12 never do.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International which interviewed 1,002 U.S. adults by telephone. [Learn more about the survey here].