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The differences between restaurant associates and food service/cashiers 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 $28,481 average annual salary of a food service/cashier.
The top three skills for a restaurant associate include food service, customer service and customer orders. The most important skills for a food service/cashier are food service, POS, and cleanliness.
| Restaurant Associate | Food Service/Cashier | |
| Yearly salary | $29,195 | $28,481 |
| Hourly rate | $14.04 | $13.69 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 64,419 | 247,779 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 48% |
| 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.
Foodservice/cashiers are often employed at food restaurants and played various roles. Their duties include recording orders from customers and making sure their payments are collected. They are responsible for managing financial transactions and creating financial reports at the end of the day, making sure that order receipts correlate to the amount of money collected. They could also function as service members, welcoming customers and taking their orders politely, packaging them, and ensures that they are delivered promptly, taking in and resolving customer's queries and complaints. They can also be tasked to stock supplies and may help in cooking if the needs arise.
Restaurant associates and food service/cashiers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Restaurant Associate | Food Service/Cashier | |
| Average salary | $29,195 | $28,481 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $37,000 | Between $22,000 And $35,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Montclair, NJ |
| Highest paying state | - | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | - | Aspen School District |
| Best paying industry | - | Retail |
There are a few differences between a restaurant associate and a food service/cashier in terms of educational background:
| Restaurant Associate | Food Service/Cashier | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 48% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between restaurant associates' and food service/cashiers' demographics:
| Restaurant Associate | Food Service/Cashier | |
| Average age | 37 | 23 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8% | Male, 28.3% Female, 71.7% |
| 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% |