Bar host vs waitress

The differences between bar hosts and waitresses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a waitress has an average salary of $24,770, which is higher than the $24,113 average annual salary of a bar host.

The top three skills for a bar host include reservations, wine and guest satisfaction. The most important skills for a waitress are food orders, food preparation, and customer orders.

Bar host vs waitress overview

	Bar Host	Waitress
Yearly salary	$24,113	$24,770
Hourly rate	$11.59	$11.91
Growth rate	9%	10%
Number of jobs	82,035	87,315
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	High School Diploma, 36%
Average age	23	28
Years of experience	-	-

Bar host vs waitress salary

Bar hosts and waitresses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Bar Host	Waitress
Average salary	$24,113	$24,770
Salary range	Between $18,000 And $31,000	Between $17,000 And $35,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	New York Institute of Technology
Best paying industry	-	Hospitality

Differences between bar host and waitress education

There are a few differences between a bar host and a waitress in terms of educational background:

	Bar Host	Waitress
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	High School Diploma, 36%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Bar host vs waitress demographics

Here are the differences between bar hosts' and waitresses' demographics:

	Bar Host	Waitress
Average age	23	28
Gender ratio	Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9%	Male, 19.9% Female, 80.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 7.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.5% Asian, 5.8% White, 58.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 8.6% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	5%	6%

Differences between bar host and waitress duties and responsibilities

Bar host example responsibilities.

Assist guests in booking reservations and manage guest history data using OpenTable reservation system.
Provide guests with an excellent dining experience by asking questions about allergies or preferences and initiating conversation for customer confidence.
Build relationships with guests -help prepare for restaurant opening -Maintain restaurant at all times -Persuasive- positive use of upselling techniques

Waitress example responsibilities.

Manage a recurring book of business of top VIP clients secure through networking.
Relay orders to bar and kitchen by quickly and accurately recording guest selections and keying them into the POS computer system.
wait tables, handle money, exceed guest expectations, serve food and drinks, micros, clean, side work.
Increase store sales by upselling merchandise.
Enter order/payment information into micros system, deliver receipt and change to the customer.
Bring wine selections to tables with appropriate glasses, and pour the wines for customers.

Bar host vs waitress skills

Common bar host skills

Reservations, 24%
Wine, 10%
Guest Satisfaction, 7%
POS, 7%
Cleanliness, 7%
Fine Dining, 6%

Common waitress skills

Food Orders, 13%
Food Preparation, 9%
Customer Orders, 8%
POS, 7%
Drink Orders, 5%
Customer Service, 5%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Bar Host
Bar Host vs Waitress

Updated January 8, 2025

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