Las Vegas’s tipped workers say their income has fallen by more than half as tourism plunges
Las Vegas workers have seen their income from tips plunge by as much as 50% — despite the recently passed no tax on tips law — as tourism to Sin City takes a hit from President Trump’s global trade war.
“No tax on tips, that’s a rad thing. But it doesn’t really do us much good if there isn’t any people to get tips from,” Charlie Mungo, a 36-year-old tattoo artist in downtown Las Vegas, told the Wall Street Journal.
Mungo said he has made about $1,500 a month in recent months.
He added that Canadian customers, who made up about 30% of his clientele, have vanished.
“We’re all starting to freak out,” he told the Journal.
Overall visitations to the city are down more than 6% through the first half of the year, with April 2025 recording just over 3.3 million visitors, representing a 5.1% drop from the previous April, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA).
Airport traffic has also decreased, with April passenger traffic at Harry Reid International Airport totaling 4.7 million, down 3.4% from April 2024.
International visitor arrivals fell over 13% in June compared to the previous year, while domestic travel saw a 6.5% decline year-over-year, based on CoStar data.
The overall decline in tourism has hurt service sector workers who were expecting to benefit from Trump’s campaign pledge to eliminate taxes on tips.
The legislation was included in the “Big Beautiful Bill,” signed earlier this month, and exempted up to $25,000 in annual tips from personal income taxes — retroactive to the start of the year.