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The differences between banquet servers and food servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a banquet server has an average salary of $29,017, which is higher than the $25,209 average annual salary of a food server.
The top three skills for a banquet server include wine, cleanliness and food service. The most important skills for a food server are beverage orders, wine, and cleanliness.
| Banquet Server | Food Server | |
| Yearly salary | $29,017 | $25,209 |
| Hourly rate | $13.95 | $12.12 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 125,381 | 125,455 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Average age | 28 | 42 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A banquet server is responsible for assisting guests in food catering events. Banquet servers' duties include arranging tables as the client desires, preparing the catering setup, refilling foods and beverages, managing guests' inquiries and possible complaints, keeping the food area clean, and maintaining the highest sanitation standards for the guests' best banquet experience. A banquet server should have excellent communication and time-management skills, especially on serving guests that would require utmost care and safe handling.
A Food Server specializes in helping customers attain a pleasant dining experience while ensuring to meet all food handling and health regulation standards. Most of the responsibilities revolve around greeting customers and directing them to comfortable seats, responding to their inquires and taking their orders, and courteously suggesting options. Aside from serving meals, Food Servers must also accept payments, organize order receipts, replenish stocks in food containers and drinking stations, and clean tables for the new customers.
Banquet servers and food servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Banquet Server | Food Server | |
| Average salary | $29,017 | $25,209 |
| Salary range | Between $20,000 And $40,000 | Between $18,000 And $34,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Vermont |
| Best paying company | Endicott College | Gettysburg College |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Retail |
There are a few differences between a banquet server and a food server in terms of educational background:
| Banquet Server | Food Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between banquet servers' and food servers' demographics:
| Banquet Server | Food Server | |
| Average age | 28 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.5% Female, 62.5% | Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 7.9% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.4% Asian, 8.7% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |