Food Preparation and Serving Related jobs: what they pay
$37,150avg. a year
$17.86 an hour · 13,680,750 employed in the U.S.
National average and median pay for 17 food preparation and serving related jobs, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. Open a job to see pay in every state and large metro area.
Top-paying food preparation and serving related jobs
Average annual U.S. pay, May 2025
17 food preparation and serving related jobs
| Job | Avg. pay | Median | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $32,150 | $31,200 | 3,854,050 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $40,060 | $35,230 | 2,270,910 |
| Cooks, Restaurant | $38,730 | $37,390 | 1,409,890 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | $46,180 | $44,080 | 1,223,240 |
| Food Preparation Workers | $35,290 | $35,320 | 893,600 |
| Bartenders | $40,790 | $34,340 | 756,390 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $32,390 | $30,890 | 641,070 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $34,230 | $33,980 | 542,750 |
| Dishwashers | $34,310 | $34,810 | 477,450 |
| Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria | $38,810 | $37,450 | 441,050 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $32,690 | $31,200 | 432,690 |
| Food Servers, Nonrestaurant | $36,140 | $35,360 | 293,900 |
| Chefs and Head Cooks | $66,700 | $62,470 | 200,040 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $36,120 | $35,880 | 138,650 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $36,810 | $35,840 | 84,630 |
| Cooks, All Other | $39,150 | $37,690 | 19,350 |
| Cooks, Private Household | $53,680 | $47,940 | 1,100 |
Why people trust JobPayFacts
Official government dataEvery number comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey of employers, not self-reported salaries.
Every state and city830 jobs across all 50 states, D.C. and 199 large metro areas.
Updated every yearNew figures each spring when BLS releases them. This site uses May 2025 data.
Sources and notes. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Wages are gross pay before taxes and don't include overtime premiums, tips, bonuses or benefits; self-employed workers aren't included. How we use the data. JobPayFacts isn't affiliated with BLS.