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The differences between cocktail waitresses and beverage servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a cocktail waitress has an average salary of $26,819, which is higher than the $25,886 average annual salary of a beverage server.
The top three skills for a cocktail waitress include customer service, drink orders and non-alcoholic beverages. The most important skills for a beverage server are drink orders, guest service, and beverage orders.
| Cocktail Waitress | Beverage Server | |
| Yearly salary | $26,819 | $25,886 |
| Hourly rate | $12.89 | $12.45 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 77,429 | 79,100 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 32% |
| Average age | 28 | 28 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
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.
A beverage server specializes in mixing and preparing drinks, serving them to customers courteously. Their responsibilities also include greeting the customers, taking orders, answering inquiries, offering recommendations when necessary, and checking the customers' identification to confirm their ages. They may also provide assistance to managers by monitoring beverage inventories, receiving and unloading deliveries, organizing supplies and equipment, and maintaining the cleanliness of work areas. Moreover, as a beverage server, it is essential to have a clear communication line with co-workers for smooth work operations.
Cocktail waitresses and beverage servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Cocktail Waitress | Beverage Server | |
| Average salary | $26,819 | $25,886 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $36,000 | Between $20,000 And $33,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | - |
| Highest paying state | - | - |
| Best paying company | - | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a cocktail waitress and a beverage server in terms of educational background:
| Cocktail Waitress | Beverage Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 32% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between cocktail waitresses' and beverage servers' demographics:
| Cocktail Waitress | Beverage Server | |
| Average age | 28 | 28 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.7% Female, 94.3% | Male, 13.6% Female, 86.4% |
| 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, 11.5% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |