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The differences between server assistants and servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a server has an average salary of $29,901, 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 server are wine, customer service, and guest satisfaction.
| Server Assistant | Server | |
| Yearly salary | $25,654 | $29,901 |
| Hourly rate | $12.33 | $14.38 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 194,248 | 162,734 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 39 | 28 |
| 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 server is a restaurant employee assigned to the main dining area of the restaurant to primarily attend to the customer's needs. Servers assist guests to their tables, wait for the guests to be ready with their orders, and take the guests' orders. They should be knowledgeable about the restaurant's offerings since they should be able to answer any questions asked by the guests regarding the menu. They communicate the guests' orders to the kitchen crew and serve the orders once they are ready. Once the guests are finished eating, servers provide their bills upon their request and clean up the table when they leave. Servers should have excellent customer service skills and hospitality management skills.
Server assistants and servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Server Assistant | Server | |
| Average salary | $25,654 | $29,901 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $33,000 | Between $21,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Maine | New York |
| Best paying company | Pioneer High School | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a server assistant and a server in terms of educational background:
| Server Assistant | Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between server assistants' and servers' demographics:
| Server Assistant | Server | |
| Average age | 39 | 28 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.2% Female, 40.8% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| 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, 12.0% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.4% Asian, 8.2% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |