Servers make $26,857 per year on average, or $12.91 per hour, in the United States. Servers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $19,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $37,000.
Location impacts how much a server can expect to make. Servers make the most in Hawaii, New York, California, Washington, and Massachusetts.
The darker areas on the map show where servers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Rank | State | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Arizona | $31,058 | $14.93 | 1,428 |
2 | West Virginia | $30,173 | $14.51 | 314 |
3 | New York | $34,576 | $16.62 | 1,915 |
4 | Michigan | $27,242 | $13.10 | 1,693 |
5 | California | $33,818 | $16.26 | 4,264 |
6 | Washington | $32,205 | $15.48 | 897 |
7 | Nevada | $25,426 | $12.22 | 649 |
8 | Massachusetts | $32,011 | $15.39 | 1,023 |
9 | Oregon | $31,135 | $14.97 | 523 |
10 | Hawaii | $37,593 | $18.07 | 87 |
11 | Colorado | $26,863 | $12.91 | 1,304 |
12 | Ohio | $23,774 | $11.43 | 2,477 |
13 | Minnesota | $27,687 | $13.31 | 1,134 |
14 | New Jersey | $28,774 | $13.83 | 1,330 |
15 | District of Columbia | $33,852 | $16.27 | 129 |
16 | Vermont | $29,641 | $14.25 | 73 |
17 | Pennsylvania | $25,533 | $12.28 | 2,226 |
18 | Rhode Island | $27,668 | $13.30 | 151 |
19 | Maine | $27,471 | $13.21 | 166 |
20 | New Hampshire | $25,420 | $12.22 | 317 |
21 | Connecticut | $27,593 | $13.27 | 456 |
22 | Virginia | $25,940 | $12.47 | 1,685 |
23 | Arkansas | $25,351 | $12.19 | 342 |
24 | Maryland | $26,457 | $12.72 | 1,166 |
25 | Kentucky | $22,511 | $10.82 | 928 |
26 | Missouri | $23,688 | $11.39 | 1,220 |
27 | Texas | $22,425 | $10.78 | 5,381 |
28 | Tennessee | $21,980 | $10.57 | 1,407 |
29 | Kansas | $22,463 | $10.80 | 593 |
30 | Indiana | $22,315 | $10.73 | 1,411 |
31 | Illinois | $24,114 | $11.59 | 2,135 |
32 | Utah | $22,400 | $10.77 | 644 |
33 | Florida | $22,252 | $10.70 | 4,993 |
34 | Wyoming | $21,523 | $10.35 | 125 |
35 | North Dakota | $23,508 | $11.30 | 78 |
36 | Delaware | $23,902 | $11.49 | 182 |
37 | Mississippi | $21,924 | $10.54 | 377 |
38 | New Mexico | $22,407 | $10.77 | 271 |
39 | Oklahoma | $20,778 | $9.99 | 668 |
40 | North Carolina | $21,382 | $10.28 | 1,889 |
41 | Alaska | $24,393 | $11.73 | 44 |
42 | Georgia | $21,864 | $10.51 | 1,963 |
43 | Wisconsin | $20,557 | $9.88 | 1,065 |
44 | Iowa | $21,091 | $10.14 | 591 |
45 | South Carolina | $20,148 | $9.69 | 990 |
46 | Idaho | $21,301 | $10.24 | 275 |
47 | Louisiana | $20,076 | $9.65 | 620 |
48 | Montana | $18,805 | $9.04 | 207 |
49 | Alabama | $19,908 | $9.57 | 773 |
50 | South Dakota | $20,766 | $9.98 | 65 |
51 | Nebraska | $19,536 | $9.39 | 273 |
Rank | City | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|---|
1 | New York, NY | $34,565 | $16.62 |
2 | Washington, DC | $33,827 | $16.26 |
3 | Los Angeles, CA | $33,432 | $16.07 |
4 | Seattle, WA | $32,802 | $15.77 |
5 | Boston, MA | $31,995 | $15.38 |
6 | Phoenix, AZ | $31,151 | $14.98 |
7 | Portland, OR | $30,630 | $14.73 |
8 | Portland, ME | $27,548 | $13.24 |
9 | Colorado Springs, CO | $27,430 | $13.19 |
10 | Austin, MN | $27,270 | $13.11 |
11 | Arlington, VA | $26,816 | $12.89 |
12 | Philadelphia, PA | $25,510 | $12.26 |
13 | Las Vegas, NV | $25,284 | $12.16 |
14 | Jacksonville, AR | $25,254 | $12.14 |
15 | Washington, UT | $24,819 | $11.93 |
Here Are The Five Most In Demand Cities Right Now:
Percentile | Annual Salary | Monthly Salary | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|---|
90th Percentile | $37,000 | $3,083 | $18 |
75th Percentile | $31,000 | $2,583 | $15 |
Average | $26,857 | $2,238 | $13 |
25th Percentile | $22,000 | $1,833 | $11 |
10th Percentile | $19,000 | $1,583 | $9 |
Job Title | Annual Salary | Monthly Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
Waitress | $22,128 | $1,844 | $10.64 | 87,315 |
Hostess | $24,341 | $2,028 | $11.70 | 82,629 |
Food Runner | $23,029 | $1,919 | $11.07 | 240,853 |
Room Service Server | $24,256 | $2,021 | $11.66 | 144,551 |
Server And Hostess | $25,933 | $2,161 | $12.47 | 97,109 |
Fine Dining Server | $33,099 | $2,758 | $15.91 | 77,549 |
Here are the five companies hiring the most now:
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | IBM | $45,666 | $21.95 | |
2 | Latham & Watkins | $44,533 | $21.41 | 2 |
3 | Intel | $42,552 | $20.46 | 10 |
4 | Amd | $37,657 | $18.10 | 6 |
5 | UC Santa Barbara | $37,141 | $17.86 | |
6 | AHMC Healthcare | $36,669 | $17.63 | 4 |
7 | Cadence Design Systems | $34,965 | $16.81 | 2 |
8 | Lawrence General Hospital | $33,191 | $15.96 | 8 |
9 | Weber Grills | $33,052 | $15.89 | 4 |
10 | The Club at Quail Ridge | $32,381 | $15.57 | 6 |
11 | National Audubon Society | $32,288 | $15.52 | 2 |
12 | Pacific Office Automation | $31,980 | $15.38 | 2 |
13 | Cheyenne Mountain Resort | $31,769 | $15.27 | |
14 | Kohler Co. | $31,730 | $15.25 | 36 |
15 | Massachusetts General Hospital | $31,674 | $15.23 | 24 |
16 | Woodfield Country Club | $31,514 | $15.15 | 4 |
17 | Cornell University | $31,481 | $15.14 | 4 |
18 | Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare | $31,043 | $14.92 | 12 |
19 | San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance | $30,991 | $14.90 | 2 |
20 | Morgan Stanley | $30,948 | $14.88 | 2 |
Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Year | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | $26,900 | $12.91 | +3.6% |
2021 | $25,900 | $12.45 | +4.8% |
2020 | $24,600 | $11.85 | +4.4% |
2019 | $23,600 | $11.32 | +4.0% |
2018 | $22,600 | $10.87 | +3.7% |
Company | Job | Location | Date Added | Salary |
---|---|---|---|---|
Treasure Island Resort & Casino | Currents Restaurant Host +Tips! | Lakeville, MN | 06/01/2022 | $28,175 |
Mod Pizza | Server | Portland, OR | 06/01/2022 | $30,262 |
Remote In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Server 2 | Joliet, IL | 06/01/2022 | $25,211 |
Happy Bao's | Happy Bao's-Server-Urgently | Mesa, AZ | 06/01/2022 | $37,566 |
Purple Cafe and Wine Bar | Servers at Purple Seattle | Seattle, WA | 06/01/2022 | $73,045 |
Bonaventure Senior Living | Server-Bonaventure of Keizer | Keizer, OR | 06/01/2022 | $33,392 |
Dainty Donuts | Server | San Ramon, CA | 06/01/2022 | $35,479 |
Mod Pizza | Server | Charlotte, NC | 06/01/2022 | $29,781 |
Kijung Hospitality Group Inc. | Servers Needed Korean BBQ | Irvine, CA | 06/01/2022 | $31,305 |
I Love Pho | Server/Waitstaff at I Love PHO | Las Vegas, NV | 06/01/2022 | $20,870 |
Hawaii pays Servers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $37,593 per year, or $18.07 per hour.
You know if you are being paid fairly as a Server if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in New York you should be paid close to $34,576 per year.
Lead Server gets paid the most. Lead Server made a median salary of $37,156. The best-paid 10 percent make $69,000, while the lowest-paid 10 percent make $19,000.
A good starting salary for a server is $19,000 in the United States. That puts you in the 10th percentile of annual income for a server in the U.S., which is about what you would expect if you were new to the field. The average salary for servers is $26,857, but that normally requires some level of experience to achieve. Furthermore, a good starting salary for a server can vary by state.
Yes, servers make good money. The average hourly wage (including tips) is only $11 an hour. Though it is possible to make over $100,000 as a server, most likely, a person will be making between $20,000 to $30,000 annually.
Servers make about $9 an hour in tips on average. It is hard to pin an exact number to an average amount that servers make in tips because there is a significantly wide range. However, since most states have a set tipped minimum wage of $2.13 an hour, it is safe to assume that most of a server's income is coming through tips.
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