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The differences between lead servers and dining room servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a dining room server has an average salary of $29,540, which is higher than the $28,677 average annual salary of a lead server.
The top three skills for a lead server include customer service, new servers and fine dining. The most important skills for a dining room server are fine dining, food service, and cleanliness.
| Lead Server | Dining Room Server | |
| Yearly salary | $28,677 | $29,540 |
| Hourly rate | $13.79 | $14.20 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 123,215 | 99,079 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Average age | 28 | 39 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A lead server is responsible for assisting the guests' needs, responding to their inquiries, and immediately addressing their dining concerns. Lead servers ensure the timely and accurate serving of orders, offering promotional menus and other additional services. Lead servers must have excellent communication skills to interact with the guests, as well as time-management and multitasking skills to perform duties in the fast-paced environment. They also help in developing strategic procedures and food menu recommendations by researching on the latest food trends in the industry to generate revenues and attract more customers.
A dining room server performs various tasks to give patrons a positive dining experience. Their job usually entails greeting customers and presenting the menu, taking their orders, answering inquiries, recommending products and other services, serving drinks and food, and handling concerns professionally and courteously. They are also responsible for coordinating with cashiers and kitchen staff, cleaning and preparing tables for new customers, and assisting staff as needed. In some establishments, a dining room server may also participate in preparing drinks or ingredients, monitoring supply inventories, and collecting payments.
Lead servers and dining room servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Server | Dining Room Server | |
| Average salary | $28,677 | $29,540 |
| Salary range | Between $11,000 And $70,000 | Between $23,000 And $37,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Marysville, WA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Washington |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Eastmont School District |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a lead server and a dining room server in terms of educational background:
| Lead Server | Dining Room Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between lead servers' and dining room servers' demographics:
| Lead Server | Dining Room Server | |
| Average age | 28 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.5% Female, 62.5% | Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 8.7% White, 53.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 13.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |