Dietary worker vs food service worker

The differences between dietary workers and food service workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a food service worker has an average salary of $28,753, which is higher than the $27,601 average annual salary of a dietary worker.

The top three skills for a dietary worker include patients, food service and customer service. The most important skills for a food service worker are food handling, safety standards, and customer service.

Dietary worker vs food service worker overview

	Dietary Worker	Food Service Worker
Yearly salary	$27,601	$28,753
Hourly rate	$13.27	$13.82
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	44,736	169,323
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 45%	High School Diploma, 44%
Average age	37	37
Years of experience	-	-

Dietary worker vs food service worker salary

Dietary workers and food service workers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Dietary Worker	Food Service Worker
Average salary	$27,601	$28,753
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $35,000	Between $22,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City	-	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Retail

Differences between dietary worker and food service worker education

There are a few differences between a dietary worker and a food service worker in terms of educational background:

	Dietary Worker	Food Service Worker
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 45%	High School Diploma, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Dietary worker vs food service worker demographics

Here are the differences between dietary workers' and food service workers' demographics:

	Dietary Worker	Food Service Worker
Average age	37	37
Gender ratio	Male, 44.3% Female, 55.7%	Male, 36.6% Female, 63.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 7.1% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between dietary worker and food service worker duties and responsibilities

Dietary worker example responsibilities.

Job duties consist of delivering food trays to patients, maintaining a clean and sanitary work space, and restocking products.
Prepare and provide healthy meal to patients according to their nutritional requirement.
Assist with planning and directing food preparation and culinary activities along with safely handling and storing all products appropriately.
Experience in operating a heavy duty dishwasher
Stack washable items for dishwasher and operate dishwasher according to department guidelines.
Distribute meals, help with cleanup and adhere to hospital sanitation policies.

Food service worker example responsibilities.

Volunteer at rehabilitation center/ nursing home escorting and communicating with the patients.
Learned how to do math quickly and efficiently.
Demonstrate money-handling and math skills in processing payments for orders.
Prepare all food stuffs, roasting meats, baking cookies, preparing salads.
Work in full compliance with values of compassion, dignity, excellence, integrity, and team work.
Install and maintain HVAC systems which include walkin coolers and freezers, reach-ins and pass thru and a/c systems

Dietary worker vs food service worker skills

Common dietary worker skills

Patients, 16%
Food Service, 15%
Customer Service, 13%
Dishes, 9%
Phone Calls, 9%
Patient Orders, 6%

Common food service worker skills

Food Handling, 22%
Safety Standards, 9%
Customer Service, 9%
Patients, 7%
Cash Control, 4%
Rehabilitation, 4%

Dietary Worker vs. similar jobs

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Dietary Worker
Dietary Worker vs Food Service Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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