Fast food worker vs food service worker

The differences between fast food 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 $24,860 average annual salary of a fast food worker.

The top three skills for a fast food worker include food handling, basic math and drive-thru. The most important skills for a food service worker are food handling, safety standards, and customer service.

Fast food worker vs food service worker overview

	Fast Food Worker	Food Service Worker
Yearly salary	$24,860	$28,753
Hourly rate	$11.95	$13.82
Growth rate	14%	2%
Number of jobs	156,271	169,323
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 63%	High School Diploma, 44%
Average age	23	37
Years of experience	-	-

Fast food worker vs food service worker salary

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

	Fast Food Worker	Food Service Worker
Average salary	$24,860	$28,753
Salary range	Between $12,000 And $51,000	Between $22,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City	Franklin Square, NY	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Hawaii
Best paying company	UC Merced	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Retail

Differences between fast food worker and food service worker education

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

	Fast Food Worker	Food Service Worker
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 63%	High School Diploma, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Fast food worker vs food service worker demographics

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

	Fast Food Worker	Food Service Worker
Average age	23	37
Gender ratio	Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0%	Male, 36.6% Female, 63.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 6.5% White, 57.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	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	8%	6%

Differences between fast food worker and food service worker duties and responsibilities

Fast food worker example responsibilities.

Operate ovens, deep fryers, grills, cash registers, and other appliances.
Operate large-volume cooking equipment such as grills, deep-fat fryers, conventional and microwave ovens.
Experience at POS, always give customer satisfaction and very persuasive with sales.
Landscape public parks utilizing a variety of heavy machinery including weed whackers, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and trimmers.
Cook foods by baking, roasting, broiling, frying, steaming and grilling.
Brew coffee and tea, and fill containers with request beverages.

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

Fast food worker vs food service worker skills

Common fast food worker skills

Food Handling, 28%
Basic Math, 17%
Drive-Thru, 9%
Safety Standards, 4%
Customer Service, 4%
Drink Orders, 4%

Common food service worker skills

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

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Fast Food Worker
Fast Food Worker vs Food Service Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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