How To Become A Hospital Tray Aide: What It Is and Career Path

What is a hospital tray aide and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a hospital tray aide. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.32 an hour? That's $27,697 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 17,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreHospital Tray AideUS Average

Salary

2.2

Avg. Salary $27,697

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.94%

Asian 9.07%

Black or African American 13.29%

Hispanic or Latino 17.19%

Unknown 4.83%

White 54.68%

Gender

female 73.59%

male 26.41%

Age - 34

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34

Stress level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.2

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a hospital tray aide

Explore hospital tray aide education requirements

Most common hospital tray aide degrees

High School Diploma

53.2 %

Bachelor's

17.7 %

Diploma

13.9 %

Start to develop specific hospital tray aide skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Handling	31.52%
Food Service	25.66%
Patients	22.75%
Tray Line	11.76%
Meal Orders	3.65%

Complete relevant hospital tray aide training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New hospital tray aides learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a hospital tray aide based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real hospital tray aide resumes.

Research hospital tray aide duties and responsibilities

Devise meal plans in line with patients' age, gender, diagnosis, cultural background and religious practices.
Take meal trays up to patients' rooms and ensure that they have everything they need to enjoy their meal.
Work collaboratively with WIC center nutritionist to conduct/obtain require nutritional measures for WIC participants.
Follow all proper laws and guide lines within the hospital, OSHA, HIPPA.

Prepare your hospital tray aide resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your hospital tray aide resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a hospital tray aide resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable hospital tray aide resume templates

Build a professional hospital tray aide resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your hospital tray aide resume.