Busser vs waitress

The differences between bussers 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 $24,111 average annual salary of a busser.

The top three skills for a busser include cleanliness, work ethic and TIP. The most important skills for a waitress are food orders, food preparation, and customer orders.

Busser vs waitress overview

	Busser	Waitress
Yearly salary	$24,111	$24,770
Hourly rate	$11.59	$11.91
Growth rate	9%	10%
Number of jobs	14,989	87,315
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 49%	High School Diploma, 36%
Average age	39	28
Years of experience	-	-

What does a busser do?

Busser, also known as dining room attendants or bartender helpers, is an entry-level position in the restaurant and dining industry. The bussers help in preparing the dining areas before guests arrive and decorating tables with a set of candles, napkins, linens, flowers, or other ornaments, especially if with a special theme for the day, usually when it's a national celebration or holidays. Also, they assist in cleaning the tables, clearing plates, used utensils, drinkware, and other dishes to the kitchen to be washed, refilling diners' glasses with water, and make the tables ready for the next set of service.

What does a waitress do?

Waitresses are responsible for ensuring that guests are given proper attention during their visit to the restaurant. They guide guests to their table, provide menu boards, answer any questions the guests may have, take the guests' order, and communicate the order to the kitchen. Once the order is ready, waitresses collect the food from the kitchen and serve it to the guests. They then give guests time to finish their meal. Upon the guests' request, waitresses bring them their bill and wait for them to finish paying up. Once the guests leave, waitresses are responsible for ensuring that the table is ready for the next guests.

Busser vs waitress salary

Bussers and waitresses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Busser	Waitress
Average salary	$24,111	$24,770
Salary range	Between $17,000 And $33,000	Between $17,000 And $35,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Maine	New York
Best paying company	Dell	New York Institute of Technology
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Hospitality

Differences between busser and waitress education

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

	Busser	Waitress
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 49%	High School Diploma, 36%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Busser vs waitress demographics

Here are the differences between bussers' and waitresses' demographics:

	Busser	Waitress
Average age	39	28
Gender ratio	Male, 73.1% Female, 26.9%	Male, 19.9% Female, 80.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 7.1% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	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	6%	6%

Differences between busser and waitress duties and responsibilities

Busser example responsibilities.

Cross-Train in all kitchen culinary positions including broiler, saut, banquets and room service food production.
Perform food preparation and serving duties, such as carving meat, preparing flambe dishes, or serving wine and liquor.
Schedule reservations and place and deliver room service orders.
Maintain both FOH and BOH duties in a fast-pace dining establishment.
Clean the dirty tables and make sure the restaurant are in tip top shape and look good.
Submit food and beverage orders to kitchen staff utilizing a POS register to tabulate and itemize orders.

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.

Busser vs waitress skills

Common busser skills

Cleanliness, 24%
Work Ethic, 9%
TIP, 8%
Food Handling, 5%
Dishwashers, 5%
Bus Tables, 4%

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
Busser
Busser vs Waitress

Updated January 8, 2025

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