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The differences between restaurant associates and food preparers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a restaurant associate has an average salary of $29,195, which is higher than the $27,717 average annual salary of a food preparer.
The top three skills for a restaurant associate include food service, customer service and customer orders. The most important skills for a food preparer are food handling, work ethic, and food products.
| Restaurant Associate | Food Preparer | |
| Yearly salary | $29,195 | $27,717 |
| Hourly rate | $14.04 | $13.33 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 64,419 | 134,113 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 41% |
| Average age | 37 | 23 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A restaurant associate is responsible for ensuring that the guests receive the highest satisfaction for their dining experience. Restaurant associates entertain and greet guests, assist the dining staff in processing orders, respond to inquiries and concerns, and escalate complaints to the supervisor. They also help management in identifying opportunities that would attract customers by researching current industry trends to develop additional services for generating more revenues. A restaurant associate monitors the stock inventory, create purchase requests, and negotiate with trusted suppliers.
A food preparer or food preparation worker is the person who executes routine tasks under the supervision of chefs, food service managers, and cooks. Food preparation workers slice meat, cut vegetables, and prepare cold foods. They prepare ingredients of food for recipes as they assist cooks and chefs. Their duties and responsibilities include sifting, marinating, food safety, grating, and knife skills. They are also expected to weigh and measure dry and liquid ingredients.
Restaurant associates and food preparers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Restaurant Associate | Food Preparer | |
| Average salary | $29,195 | $27,717 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $37,000 | Between $20,000 And $37,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Commack, NY |
| Highest paying state | - | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | - | Mount Sinai Health System |
| Best paying industry | - | Retail |
There are a few differences between a restaurant associate and a food preparer in terms of educational background:
| Restaurant Associate | Food Preparer | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 41% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between restaurant associates' and food preparers' demographics:
| Restaurant Associate | Food Preparer | |
| Average age | 37 | 23 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8% | Male, 46.6% Female, 53.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 6.6% White, 54.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 6.5% White, 57.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 8% |