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The differences between server assistants 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 $25,654 average annual salary of a server assistant.
The top three skills for a server assistant include cleanliness, reservations and service stations. The most important skills for a dining room server are fine dining, food service, and cleanliness.
| Server Assistant | Dining Room Server | |
| Yearly salary | $25,654 | $29,540 |
| Hourly rate | $12.33 | $14.20 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 194,248 | 99,079 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A server assistant, also known as a busser, is a restaurant employee who assists food servers in providing prompt and polite service to their guests. Server assistants are responsible for the preparation of tables for their arriving guests at the same time to help deliver food to tables when the food servers are busy. Aside from entertaining guests, server assistants must ensure that beverages are refilled, menus are sanitized, and process payments. Server assistants must also possess excellent communication and customer service skills.
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.
Server assistants and dining room servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Server Assistant | Dining Room Server | |
| Average salary | $25,654 | $29,540 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $33,000 | Between $23,000 And $37,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Marysville, WA |
| Highest paying state | Maine | Washington |
| Best paying company | Pioneer High School | Eastmont School District |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a server assistant and a dining room server in terms of educational background:
| Server Assistant | Dining Room Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between server assistants' and dining room servers' demographics:
| Server Assistant | Dining Room Server | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.2% Female, 40.8% | Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 7.7% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | 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% |