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The differences between cocktail waitresses and bartender servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a bartender server has an average salary of $32,591, which is higher than the $26,819 average annual salary of a cocktail waitress.
The top three skills for a cocktail waitress include customer service, drink orders and non-alcoholic beverages. The most important skills for a bartender server are bartending, POS, and non-alcoholic beverages.
| Cocktail Waitress | Bartender Server | |
| Yearly salary | $26,819 | $32,591 |
| Hourly rate | $12.89 | $15.67 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 18% |
| Number of jobs | 77,429 | 106,784 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 28 | 34 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
A cocktail waitress, or often called a cocktail server, is a female server who serves alcoholic beverages and food to patrons in nightclubs and bars. Cocktail waitresses are required to interact with customers by taking their food orders, serving them food and drinks, and then processing payments. To serve proper alcoholic drinks to customers, cocktail waitresses must be well informed about the drinks they serve, such as wine, beer, and cocktails. They also assist in checking identification to ensure that customers are of legal age to buy alcoholic drinks.
Bartender servers are employees who work in the restaurant's bar area. They are responsible for assembling customers' drink orders and serving these to customers. They should be sound drink mixers and must be familiar with cocktail combinations and other mixes. They should also know the ingredients of the restaurant's drinks and should be able to use alternatives should specific components be unavailable. Some bartender servers engage in flairtending, a way of mixing drinks that entertains the guests waiting for their drinks.
Cocktail waitresses and bartender servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Cocktail Waitress | Bartender Server | |
| Average salary | $26,819 | $32,591 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $36,000 | Between $23,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Edmonds, WA |
| Highest paying state | - | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | - | Earth Fare |
| Best paying industry | - | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a cocktail waitress and a bartender server in terms of educational background:
| Cocktail Waitress | Bartender Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between cocktail waitresses' and bartender servers' demographics:
| Cocktail Waitress | Bartender Server | |
| Average age | 28 | 34 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.7% Female, 94.3% | Male, 33.8% Female, 66.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 21.6% Asian, 7.8% White, 53.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 5.9% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 8% |