Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between food service workers and food servers 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 $25,209 average annual salary of a food server.
The top three skills for a food service worker include food handling, safety standards and customer service. The most important skills for a food server are beverage orders, wine, and cleanliness.
| Food Service Worker | Food Server | |
| Yearly salary | $28,753 | $25,209 |
| Hourly rate | $13.82 | $12.12 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 169,323 | 125,455 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 5 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 44% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Average age | 37 | 42 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Foodservice workers are employees at restaurants, food trucks, or any outlet that provides food to customers. They may be assigned to welcome customers, take food orders, prepare food orders in the kitchen, serve food, handle customer payments, clean up the tables once the guests leave, or maintain the whole store's cleanliness. They may also be assigned to manage inventories, handle stocks and deliveries, and other activities related to the restaurant's successful operations. Foodservice workers must always be hygienic and maintain the sanitation of the area to ensure food safety.
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 workers and food servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Food Service Worker | Food Server | |
| Average salary | $28,753 | $25,209 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $36,000 | Between $18,000 And $34,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Vermont |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Gettysburg College |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Retail |
There are a few differences between a food service worker and a food server in terms of educational background:
| Food Service Worker | Food Server | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 44% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between food service workers' and food servers' demographics:
| Food Service Worker | Food Server | |
| Average age | 37 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 36.6% Female, 63.4% | Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |