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The differences between dining room servers and server and hostesses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a dining room server has an average salary of $29,540, which is higher than the $28,020 average annual salary of a server and hostess.
The top three skills for a dining room server include fine dining, food service and cleanliness. The most important skills for a server and hostess are POS, food preparation, and food orders.
| Dining Room Server | Server And Hostess | |
| Yearly salary | $29,540 | $28,020 |
| Hourly rate | $14.20 | $13.47 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 99,079 | 97,109 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | High School Diploma, 39% |
| Average age | 39 | 28 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A dining room server performs various tasks to give patrons a positive dining experience. Their job usually entails greeting customers and presenting the menu, taking their orders, answering inquiries, recommending products and other services, serving drinks and food, and handling concerns professionally and courteously. They are also responsible for coordinating with cashiers and kitchen staff, cleaning and preparing tables for new customers, and assisting staff as needed. In some establishments, a dining room server may also participate in preparing drinks or ingredients, monitoring supply inventories, and collecting payments.
A server and hostess is an employee who plays the dual role of both a hostess and a server. As implied by this, a server and hostess is in-charge of welcoming guests as they enter the restaurant, ensuring that the guests' tables are ready before leading them to their assigned tables, handing over the menu, and waiting for the guests to finalize their order. Once the guests are ready to order, the server and hostess takes on the server role by bringing the guests' order to the kitchen, waiting for the food to be ready, and bringing the food to the guests' table.
Dining room servers and server and hostesses have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Dining Room Server | Server And Hostess | |
| Average salary | $29,540 | $28,020 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $37,000 | Between $21,000 And $37,000 |
| Highest paying City | Marysville, WA | Binghamton, NY |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New York |
| Best paying company | Eastmont School District | Blue Dolphin Energy |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a dining room server and a server and hostess in terms of educational background:
| Dining Room Server | Server And Hostess | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | High School Diploma, 39% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between dining room servers' and server and hostesses' demographics:
| Dining Room Server | Server And Hostess | |
| Average age | 39 | 28 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9% | Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 13.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 20.8% Asian, 8.2% White, 53.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |