According to a Wall Street Journal report, published July 26, workers in Las Vegas have seen their tips go down by as much as 50%, thanks to declining tourism. This plunge in income from tips comes despite Nevada’s recently-passed ‘no tax on tips’ law.
“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,” Las Vegas-based tattoo artist Charlie Mungo told the Journal.
Mungo said that Canadians used to make up 30% of his clientele. They have now vanished.
“We’re all starting to freak out,” he said.
Canadians have been boycotting American products and vacations over US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs – he has imposed a 25% tariff on imports of certain Canadian goods.
WOW! Look at Las Vegas!
— Lucas Sanders 💙🗳️🌊💪🌈🚺🟧 (@LucasSa56947288) July 30, 2025
It’s almost like a GHOST TOWN! pic.twitter.com/E2ehpmDynM
“WOW! Look at Las Vegas! It’s almost like a GHOST TOWN!” wrote one social media users on X, sharing a photograph that shows the roads of the city with only a few cars.
X user Alex Cole posted a photograph of what appears to be the lobby of an empty resort and wrote: “Las Vegas is dead bro…”
“I come to Vegas every year at this same time, and last year these streets were packed,” Cole added in a follow-up post.
According to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the city saw a drop in overall visitor numbers during the first four months of this year.
Passenger traffic through Harry Reid International Airport also declined, with domestic travel in the first half of 2025 down 4% compared to the same period last year.
