Food Runner Salary

Q: How much does a Food Runner make?

Food runners make $25,536 per year on average, or $12.28 per hour, in the United States. Food runners on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $18,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $34,000. Location impacts how much a food runner can expect to make. Food runners make the most in Vermont, Washington, California, Massachusetts, and Maryland.

Updated December 12, 2022

Average Food Runner Salary

$12.28hourly

$25,536 yearly

Entry level Salary

$18,000 yearly

$18,000

10%

$25,536

Median

$34,000

90%

How much does a Food Runner make?

Food runners make $25,536 per year on average, or $12.28 per hour, in the United States. Food runners on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $18,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $34,000.

Location impacts how much a food runner can expect to make. Food runners make the most in Vermont, Washington, California, Massachusetts, and Maryland.

Highest Paying States For Food Runners

Throughout the U.S., the average salary for a food runner is roughly $25,536 per year, which boils down to $12.28 per hour. Interestingly enough, food runners have the highest salaries in Seattle, WA at about $27,492 per year. For those who are just starting out, the average entry-level salary in Seattle, WA is $20,000. Additionally, food runners make more than the average salary in San Francisco, CA, Boston, MA, Baltimore, MD, Washington, DC, and Portland, OR. On a more broad level, food runner salaries are highest in Vermont, Washington, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, Oregon, and New York. On the contrary, Delaware, Oklahoma, and South Carolina offer the lowest food runner salaries.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Food Runner average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Indiana	$24,414	$11.74	1,488
2	North Carolina	$24,240	$11.65	2,096
3	Tennessee	$23,320	$11.21	1,488
4	Ohio	$24,507	$11.78	2,189
5	Washington	$27,472	$13.21	1,086
6	Texas	$23,389	$11.24	5,082
7	Minnesota	$25,839	$12.42	926
8	Vermont	$28,023	$13.47	97
9	Kentucky	$23,150	$11.13	1,003
10	Kansas	$23,803	$11.44	586
11	Oregon	$26,208	$12.60	597
12	Pennsylvania	$23,687	$11.39	2,391
13	Wisconsin	$23,815	$11.45	1,065
14	Massachusetts	$26,695	$12.83	1,168
15	Maryland	$26,561	$12.77	1,034
16	New York	$25,921	$12.46	2,092
17	Connecticut	$25,559	$12.29	530
18	Colorado	$24,322	$11.69	1,250
19	Maine	$25,380	$12.20	224
20	Michigan	$22,950	$11.03	1,766
21	Rhode Island	$25,117	$12.08	149
22	New Mexico	$23,738	$11.41	322
23	Illinois	$24,571	$11.81	1,996
24	Georgia	$23,299	$11.20	1,893
25	Alabama	$22,858	$10.99	745
26	Mississippi	$22,114	$10.63	518
27	California	$27,036	$13.00	3,900
28	Montana	$22,521	$10.83	299
29	Arkansas	$22,952	$11.03	417
30	North Dakota	$23,638	$11.36	102
31	Virginia	$23,710	$11.40	1,806
32	New Hampshire	$23,729	$11.41	318
33	District of Columbia	$26,513	$12.75	122
34	Alaska	$25,663	$12.34	130
35	Arizona	$22,241	$10.69	1,393
36	New Jersey	$23,699	$11.39	1,519
37	Nebraska	$23,438	$11.27	310
38	Iowa	$22,523	$10.83	608
39	Nevada	$22,024	$10.59	487
40	Florida	$22,292	$10.72	3,359
41	South Carolina	$21,368	$10.27	1,194
42	Missouri	$22,407	$10.77	1,156
43	South Dakota	$21,938	$10.55	168
44	West Virginia	$20,778	$9.99	359
45	Oklahoma	$21,384	$10.28	678
46	Idaho	$22,339	$10.74	261
47	Utah	$22,187	$10.67	522
48	Delaware	$21,699	$10.43	217
49	Wyoming	$20,464	$9.84	135
50	Hawaii	$24,142	$11.61	108
51	Louisiana	$20,882	$10.04	549

Highest Paying Cities For Food Runners

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Seattle, WA	$27,492	$13.22
2	San Francisco, CA	$27,243	$13.10
3	Boston, MA	$26,700	$12.84
4	Baltimore, MD	$26,580	$12.78
5	Washington, DC	$26,488	$12.73
6	Portland, OR	$26,172	$12.58
7	New York, NY	$25,867	$12.44
8	Portland, ME	$25,324	$12.18
9	Chicago, IL	$24,576	$11.82
10	Columbus, OH	$24,430	$11.75
11	Columbus, IN	$24,351	$11.71
12	Colorado Springs, CO	$24,329	$11.70
13	Jacksonville, NC	$24,279	$11.67
14	Urban Honolulu, HI	$24,128	$11.60
15	Philadelphia, PA	$23,737	$11.41

Here Are The Five Most In Demand Cities Right Now:

Food Runners Salary Details

Average Food Runner Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a Food Runner's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$34,000	$2,833	$16
75th Percentile	$29,000	$2,417	$14
Average	$25,536	$2,128	$12
25th Percentile	$21,000	$1,750	$10
10th Percentile	$18,000	$1,500	$9

Highest Paying Types of Food Runners

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Waitress	$24,770	$2,064	$11.91	87,315
Server/Barista	$30,749	$2,562	$14.78	173,073
Cashier/Host	$24,581	$2,048	$11.82	131,740
Line Cook	$32,895	$2,741	$15.81	168,993
Server And Hostess	$28,020	$2,335	$13.47	97,109
Restaurant Server	$24,558	$2,047	$11.81	141,250

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Food Runners The Most?

The highest paying companies for food runners are University of Massachusetts Boston and Talamore Country Club according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Univ Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs and Lexington Country Club report highly competitive wages for food runners.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	University of Massachusetts Boston	$42,416	$20.39	3
2	Talamore Country Club	$38,236	$18.38
3	Univ Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs	$38,214	$18.37
4	Lexington Country Club	$37,165	$17.87	1
5	Kroll	$36,480	$17.54
6	Syracuse University	$35,692	$17.16	6
7	Milwaukee Art Museum	$35,015	$16.83
8	University of Colorado Boulder	$34,657	$16.66	1
9	Aspen Snowmass	$34,583	$16.63	1
10	El Camino High School	$34,245	$16.46	1
11	Jeff Ruby	$34,140	$16.41	3
12	Maidstone Club	$33,663	$16.18
13	Scottsdale Insurance	$33,544	$16.13	3
14	Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurants	$33,415	$16.06	15
15	Capital City Club	$33,357	$16.04	1
16	SpaceX	$33,281	$16.00	16
17	HEI Hotels & Resorts	$33,073	$15.90	270
18	Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants	$32,774	$15.76	173
19	Amazon	$32,731	$15.74	3
20	Bertucci's	$32,347	$15.55	9

Food Runner Pay Trends

Average Food Runner Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Food Runner Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$25,500	$12.28	+4.7%
2022	$24,300	$11.71	+5.4%
2021	$23,000	$11.08	+5.0%
2020	$21,900	$10.52	+3.7%
2019	$21,100	$10.13	+2.7%

Recently Added Food Runner Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
The Marcus Corporation	Food Runner	Las Vegas, NV	11/29/2022	$24,001
Chick-Fil-A St. Lucie West FSU	Chick-Fil-A Host/Dining Room Attendant	Port Saint Lucie, FL	11/29/2022	$20,870
Capital City Club	Food Runner	Atlanta, GA	11/29/2022	$22,957
Benchmark	Hotel Banquet Food Runner or More Per Hour-Private Hotel and Training Center!	Center, TX	11/29/2022	$35,062
The Alinea Group	Food Runner-The Aviary	Chicago, IL	11/28/2022	$40,697
Monkey Bar	Food Runner	New York, NY	11/28/2022	$20,870
Ai Fiori	Breakfast Food Runner	New York, NY	11/28/2022	$31,305
Peony Kitchen Bellevue	Expo/Food Runner	Bellevue, WA	11/28/2022	$31,305
Snooze La Jolla	Food Runner	San Diego, CA	11/28/2022	$31,305
LeÑA Brava	Food Runner	Chicago, IL	11/28/2022	$19,284

Food Runner Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Food Runners The Most?

Vermont pays Food Runners the most in the United States, with an average salary of $28,023 per year, or $13.47 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As A Food Runner?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Food Runner if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Washington you should be paid close to $27,472 per year.

What Type Of Food Runner Gets Paid The Most?

Associate Food Scientist gets paid the most. Associate Food Scientist made a median salary of $43,865. The best-paid 10 percent make $49,000, while the lowest-paid 10 percent make $39,000.

What Is A Good Starting Salary For A Food Runner?

A good starting salary for a food runner is $15,000 in the United States. That puts you in the 10th percentile of annual income for a food runner in the U.S., which is about what you would expect if you were new to the field. The average salary for food runners is $23,029, but that normally requires some level of experience to achieve. Furthermore, a good starting salary for a food runner can vary by state.

Have more questions? See all answers to common food preparation and restaurant questions.

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Updated December 12, 2022