Food Service Workers

The earnings of food service workers are determined by a number of factors, such as the type, size, and location of the food establishment, union membership, experience and training of the workers, basic wages paid, and, in some cases, tips earned. Estimating the average wage scale is therefore difficult and has a wide margin of error. It should also be noted that half of all food service workers work part time, so the annual wages mentioned here apply only to full-time work. The following paragraphs provide information on salaries from the U.S. Department of Labor for various types of food service workers in May 2023. All earnings exclude tips.

Waiters depend a great deal on tips to supplement their basic wages, which in general are relatively small. Waiters earned a median hourly wage of $15.36 (including tips) in May 2023. At this pay rate, a person working a 40-hour workweek on a full-time basis would earn $31,940 annually. The highest paid 10 percent of waiters earned more than $28.89 per hour ($60,100 annually), and the lowest 10 percent earned $8.94 per hour ($18,600 annually). Tips, usually ranging from 15 to 20 percent of the customers' checks, often amount to more than the actual wages, especially in the larger metropolitan areas. Naturally, waiters working in busy, expensive restaurants earned the most.

Dining room and cafeteria attendants earned a median of $14.99 per hour, which is $31,180 per year for full-time work. Most of these attendants' earnings come from wages, while a portion may come from tip pools that are shared with other members of the wait staff. Hosts and hostesses made a median salary of $14.05 per hour. This translates into a yearly income of $24,690. Many hosts' and hostesses' earnings come from wages, but some may share in a tip pool with other dining room workers. Counter attendants at coffee shops, cafeterias, fast food businesses, and other such establishments earned a mean hourly wage of $14.20, or $29,540 annually.

Full-time bartenders had median hourly wages of $15.15. A person working 40 hours a week at this pay rate would earn $31,510 annually. The lowest paid 10 percent of full-time bartenders earned less than $9.55 per hour (or less than $19,870 annually), and the highest paid 10 percent made more than $29.43 per hour (or more than $61,210 annually). Another reason earnings vary so widely in this industry is because special laws govern the minimum wage that must be paid to tipped workers. While the federal minimum wage is $7.25 (although minimum wage rates are higher in some states and cities), employers under certain circumstances are allowed to pay tipped workers less than this amount. The minimum an employer could pay tipped workers was $2.13 per hour as of July 1, 2024. The yearly income for a full-time worker making this amount is $4,430 without tips.

First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers earned median annual salaries of $38,520.

As a benefit, most businesses offer free or discounted meals to workers. Full-time workers often receive some benefits, such as health insurance and sick days.