Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
[UPDATE] Are New York Taxi Riders Tipping Less?
By
Jacob Dobkin
Published Mar 7, 2013
Modified Mar 15, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jacob Dobkin
Published Mar 7, 2013
Modified Mar 15, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
[UPDATE BELOW] Taxi customers have been able to pay by credit card since 2007, and occasional reports since then have indicated that the 20-30% default percentages for tips has led to an increase in the average tip, from less than 15% in the pre-credit days to almost 20% now. We decided to dig into the data* and see what it said.
First, it's clear more people are paying with credit cards— just in the last four years, the percentage of trips paid by card has shot up from around 20% to just under 50%:
But as more people have paid with credit cards, the average tip has declined. Despite 20% being the lowest default option, New Yorkers are still paying less than that, around 17.6% at the end of 2012:
One explanation is that a good percentage of people are still keying in the old lower rates— perhaps 10% or 15% one each ride. [Another explanation, from Boris in the comments below, is that some people tip 0% and pay whatever they prefer in cash.] Another interesting trend: in 2009 and 2010, the tipping percentage shot up over the summer, maybe because of tourists flooding the city over vacation season. But the last two years that trend seems to have vanished— has the Great Recession changed the way tourists tip?
*N.B.: we got the data from the Taxi and Livery Cab Commission through a Freedom of Information Act Request. We've made it public here.
UPDATE: TLC Commissioner David Yassky rang in to dispute the notion that New Yorkers have become cheaper tippers. In fact, he says, a detailed analysis of the graph does not indicate a decline in rates. He argues that pre-2011, the higher volatility in the graph is due to a smaller number of customers paying by credit card, and if you average across this volatile period, the average tip was still about 18%.
He also has an intriguing argument for the decline on the right side of the graph, after the recent fare hike in September 2012: "most people don't use the default tip calculators— this shocked me when I learned this... most people enter their own tip amount. They ignore the defaults, and enter a round number- $2, $3, $5 dollars, depending on the fare. So they are still putting in a $2 or $4 tip amount, but the fare has gone up. The average fare used to be $12.50 and now it's $14. So the size of the tip hasn't changed, but the percentage of the fare has gone down because the fare size changed. New Yorkers are tipping the same nominal amount, but it's a smaller percentage of the fare."
So there you have it: New Yorkers haven't gotten cheaper— they've just failed to adjust their nominal tipping amounts to keep up with the rising taxi rates. After some extended cogitation, we've provisionally accepted this explanation and changed the headline of this story accordingly.
Tagged
data
data visualization
foia request
interactive map
taxi
tlc
original
Jacob Dobkin
Jake Dobkin co-founded Gothamist with Jen Chung. In 2019, Jake released Ask a Native New Yorker, a book based on his Gothamist advice column.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani names re-entry specialist as chair of Rikers oversight board
Christopher Watler will help the department that a federal monitor says remains in crisis.
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 6, 2026 at 3:52 p.m. ET
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Legionella found in Staten Island building's water system after 2 positive cases
By
Catalina Gonella
Legal 'loophole' helps NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, Bruce Blakeman raise millions
By
Jon Campbell
Police identify 2 men wanted for stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .