Sommelier vs bartender

The differences between sommeliers and bartenders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sommelier has an average salary of $40,584, which is higher than the $26,362 average annual salary of a bartender.

The top three skills for a sommelier include wine, fine dining and POS. The most important skills for a bartender are wine, bartending, and exceptional guest.

Sommelier vs bartender overview

	Sommelier	Bartender
Yearly salary	$40,584	$26,362
Hourly rate	$19.51	$12.67
Growth rate	10%	18%
Number of jobs	1,802	57,518
Job satisfaction	-	4.67
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	28	34
Years of experience	-	2

Sommelier vs bartender salary

Sommeliers and bartenders have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sommelier	Bartender
Average salary	$40,584	$26,362
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $68,000	Between $16,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	New York	Hawaii
Best paying company	Del Frisco's Restaurant Group	OTTO
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Hospitality

Differences between sommelier and bartender education

There are a few differences between a sommelier and a bartender in terms of educational background:

	Sommelier	Bartender
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Sommelier vs bartender demographics

Here are the differences between sommeliers' and bartenders' demographics:

	Sommelier	Bartender
Average age	28	34
Gender ratio	Male, 68.3% Female, 31.7%	Male, 39.7% Female, 60.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 9.0% White, 51.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 3.7% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	6%	8%

Differences between sommelier and bartender duties and responsibilities

Sommelier example responsibilities.

Manage sales and inventory for premier wine destination restaurant.
Wine, spirits and fine products sale.
Direct guest interaction and up-sell of wine and spirits.
Inventory, purchasing and cost control monitoring, transaction reconciliation, POS programming, payroll, sommelier work.
Purchase wines for one of the largest menu varieties in NYC.
Market wine selections with sales team through upselling or pouring wine product samples for testing.

Bartender example responsibilities.

Train and manage all new bartenders achieving significant results in their productivity and knowledge.
Manage bar and staff, tend bar, DJ and operate karaoke equipment.
Manage and promote company Facebook account.
Provide seamless beverage service, managing inventory and operating POS terminal.
Manage payroll and timekeeping including completion of proper paperwork for new hires and terminations.
Direct bartending operations, overseeing beverage service, scheduling, inventory management and customer service.

Sommelier vs bartender skills

Common sommelier skills

Wine, 44%
Fine Dining, 13%
POS, 5%
Culinary, 5%
Spirits, 4%
Sommeliers, 3%

Common bartender skills

Wine, 23%
Bartending, 10%
Exceptional Guest, 7%
Cleanliness, 6%
Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 5%
Cash Handling, 4%

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Sommelier vs Bartender

Updated January 8, 2025

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