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The differences between food service associates and food servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a food service associate has an average salary of $31,642, which is higher than the $25,209 average annual salary of a food server.
The top three skills for a food service associate include patients, food handling and excellent interpersonal. The most important skills for a food server are beverage orders, wine, and cleanliness.
| Food Service Associate | Food Server | |
| Yearly salary | $31,642 | $25,209 |
| Hourly rate | $15.21 | $12.12 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 64,167 | 125,455 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Average age | 37 | 42 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A food service associate performs fundamental functions in the food industry. Food service associates prepare and serve food items. They cater to special events, which involve facility preparation, food presentation maintenance, and setting up tables. Their duties include cleaning preparation and service equipment. They restock the work stations for the essential supplies. The skills they need to perform their job include customer service, teamwork, work with diverse cultural, ethnic, and academic backgrounds, and learn safety and health regulations.
A Food Server specializes in helping customers attain a pleasant dining experience while ensuring to meet all food handling and health regulation standards. Most of the responsibilities revolve around greeting customers and directing them to comfortable seats, responding to their inquires and taking their orders, and courteously suggesting options. Aside from serving meals, Food Servers must also accept payments, organize order receipts, replenish stocks in food containers and drinking stations, and clean tables for the new customers.
Food service associates and food servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Food Service Associate | Food Server | |
| Average salary | $31,642 | $25,209 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $39,000 | Between $18,000 And $34,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Vermont |
| Best paying company | Maine Health/maine Mental Health Partners | Gettysburg College |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a food service associate and a food server in terms of educational background:
| Food Service Associate | Food Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between food service associates' and food servers' demographics:
| Food Service Associate | Food Server | |
| Average age | 37 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.0% Female, 62.0% | Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 7.3% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.4% Asian, 8.7% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |