Food service is a large U.S. employment category with substantial differences in pay by occupation. In May 2025, food preparation and serving related occupations employed 13,680,750 people nationally. The group’s mean hourly wage was $17.86, while its median hourly wage was $16.85, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.
Contents
- National workforce scale
- Chefs and first-line supervisors
- Cook wages by setting
- Preparation and serving benchmarks
- Front-of-house and counter service
- Support roles
National workforce scale
The broad food preparation and serving category includes kitchen, counter, dining-room, and related occupations. Its May 2025 employment total of 13,680,750 provides the overall scale for the wage figures in this article. The national mean hourly wage was $17.86, and the national median hourly wage was $16.85. These are U.S. occupational estimates for May 2025, not a current wage quote for a particular restaurant, city, or job opening. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.)
Cooks were one of the largest named groups, with 2,651,090 employed nationally. Their mean hourly wage was $17.83 and their median hourly wage was $17.62. Food and beverage serving workers represented an even larger group, with 7,175,250 employed. The mean for that group was $17.18 per hour, compared with a median of $16.06. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.)
The difference between a mean and a median matters when reading food service wage statistics. The mean is the average across reported employment, while the median is the midpoint: half of workers are below it and half are above it. In the broad categories above, the mean is higher than the median, so the two measures should not be treated as interchangeable.
Chefs and first-line supervisors
Leadership and supervisory jobs sit above the broad occupation benchmarks in this dataset. Chefs and head cooks employed 200,040 people in May 2025. Their national mean hourly wage was $32.07, and their median hourly wage was $30.03. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.)
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers employed 1,223,240 people. The national mean hourly wage for this occupation was $22.20, while the median was $21.19. That employment count is considerably larger than the count for chefs and head cooks, reflecting a broad supervisory group across food preparation and serving operations. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.)
| Occupation | Employment | Mean hourly wage | Median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chefs and head cooks | 200,040 | $32.07 | $30.03 |
| First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers | 1,223,240 | $22.20 | $21.19 |
| Cooks | 2,651,090 | $17.83 | $17.62 |
| Food and beverage serving workers | 7,175,250 | $17.18 | $16.06 |
The table shows how occupation definitions affect a wage comparison. Chefs and head cooks have the highest listed hourly figures among these four groups, while food and beverage serving workers have the largest employment count. The categories are not job titles used by every employer, so readers should compare a position’s actual responsibilities with the closest BLS occupation.
Cook wages by setting
Cook wages vary by the work setting identified in the BLS occupation categories. Restaurant cooks employed 1,409,890 people in May 2025. Their national mean hourly wage was $18.62, and their median was $17.98. Institution and cafeteria cooks employed 441,050 people, with a mean of $18.66 and a median of $18.01.
Fast-food cooks employed 641,070 people. Their mean hourly wage was $15.57, and their median hourly wage was $14.85. The figures describe the occupations nationally and do not adjust for a particular state, metropolitan area, employer, schedule, tips, benefits, or overtime arrangement. (Source for all cook-setting figures: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.)
Among these three cook settings, institution and cafeteria cooks had the highest mean and median hourly wages, at $18.66 and $18.01. Restaurant cooks were close, at $18.62 and $17.98. Fast-food cooks had lower reported figures, at $15.57 mean and $14.85 median. Employment was largest for restaurant cooks, followed by fast-food cooks and then institution and cafeteria cooks.
Preparation and serving benchmarks
Food preparation workers employed 893,600 people nationally in May 2025. Their mean hourly wage was $16.96, and their median hourly wage was $16.98. In this occupation, the median was slightly higher than the mean, unlike the broad food preparation and serving category. That small reversal is a reminder that the mean and median can move differently within individual occupations. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.)
Food servers, nonrestaurant employed 293,900 people. The national mean hourly wage was $17.37, and the median was $17.00. This category is separate from restaurant waiters and waitresses, so its figures should not be combined with restaurant front-of-house figures without a clear definition.
Other food preparation and serving related workers employed 1,537,520 people. Their mean hourly wage was $16.33 and their median hourly wage was $16.38. The BLS category is a broad residual grouping, so it is best used as a benchmark for the named occupation rather than as a description of every food-service support job.
Together, these benchmarks show three different scales: food preparation workers at 893,600 jobs, nonrestaurant food servers at 293,900, and other food preparation and serving related workers at 1,537,520. Their mean hourly wages ranged from $16.33 to $17.37, while their median hourly wages ranged from $16.38 to $17.00. (Source for all three occupations: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.)
Front-of-house and counter service
Front-of-house roles show different relationships between mean and median pay. Bartenders employed 756,390 people in May 2025. Their national mean hourly wage was $19.61, while their median was $16.51. The gap between these measures is larger than in many of the other occupations listed here, so using only the mean would not describe the midpoint worker’s wage.
Waiters and waitresses employed 2,270,910 people nationally. Their mean hourly wage was $19.26, and their median hourly wage was $16.94. Fast food and counter workers formed a larger group, with 3,854,050 employed. Their mean hourly wage was $15.46 and their median was $15.00. (Source for all front-of-house figures: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.)
| Front-of-house occupation | Employment | Mean hourly wage | Median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bartenders | 756,390 | $19.61 | $16.51 |
| Waiters and waitresses | 2,270,910 | $19.26 | $16.94 |
| Fast food and counter workers | 3,854,050 | $15.46 | $15.00 |
These national estimates distinguish counter-service scale from table-service scale. Fast food and counter workers had the largest employment total among the three groups, while bartenders had the highest mean hourly wage. Waiters and waitresses had a higher median than bartenders in the reported May 2025 figures, even though bartenders had the higher mean.
Support roles
Support positions account for hundreds of thousands of food-service jobs. Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers employed 542,750 people in May 2025. Their national mean hourly wage was $16.46, and their median was $16.34.
Dishwashers employed 477,450 people. The mean hourly wage was $16.49, and the median was $16.73. Here, as with food preparation workers, the median was higher than the mean in the reported national estimate.
Hosts and hostesses in restaurants, lounges, and coffee shops employed 432,690 people. Their mean hourly wage was $15.72, and their median was $15.00. (Source for all support-role figures: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages - May 2025.)
The support-role figures provide useful employment and wage benchmarks, but they are not forecasts. They describe May 2025 estimates for the United States. Actual pay can differ by location, employer, experience, hours, tips, and the precise duties assigned to a role; those factors are not quantified in the figures reported here.