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The differences between cocktail waitresses and servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a server has an average salary of $29,901, 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 server are wine, customer service, and guest satisfaction.
| Cocktail Waitress | Server | |
| Yearly salary | $26,819 | $29,901 |
| Hourly rate | $12.89 | $14.38 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 77,429 | 162,734 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| 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 server is a restaurant employee assigned to the main dining area of the restaurant to primarily attend to the customer's needs. Servers assist guests to their tables, wait for the guests to be ready with their orders, and take the guests' orders. They should be knowledgeable about the restaurant's offerings since they should be able to answer any questions asked by the guests regarding the menu. They communicate the guests' orders to the kitchen crew and serve the orders once they are ready. Once the guests are finished eating, servers provide their bills upon their request and clean up the table when they leave. Servers should have excellent customer service skills and hospitality management skills.
Cocktail waitresses and servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Cocktail Waitress | Server | |
| Average salary | $26,819 | $29,901 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $36,000 | Between $21,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | New York |
| Best paying company | - | Dell |
| Best paying industry | - | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a cocktail waitress and a server in terms of educational background:
| Cocktail Waitress | Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between cocktail waitresses' and servers' demographics:
| Cocktail Waitress | Server | |
| Average age | 28 | 28 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.7% Female, 94.3% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| 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, 12.0% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.4% Asian, 8.2% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |