Sommelier vs head waitress

The differences between sommeliers and head waitresses 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 $27,306 average annual salary of a head waitress.

The top three skills for a sommelier include wine, fine dining and POS. The most important skills for a head waitress are customer service, food preparation, and customer complaints.

Sommelier vs head waitress overview

	Sommelier	Head Waitress
Yearly salary	$40,584	$27,306
Hourly rate	$19.51	$13.13
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	1,802	72,324
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Average age	28	28
Years of experience	-	-

Sommelier vs head waitress salary

Sommeliers and head waitresses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sommelier	Head Waitress
Average salary	$40,584	$27,306
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $68,000	Between $19,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	-
Highest paying state	New York	-
Best paying company	Del Frisco's Restaurant Group	-
Best paying industry	Hospitality	-

Differences between sommelier and head waitress education

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

	Sommelier	Head Waitress
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Sommelier vs head waitress demographics

Here are the differences between sommeliers' and head waitresses' demographics:

	Sommelier	Head Waitress
Average age	28	28
Gender ratio	Male, 68.3% Female, 31.7%	Male, 4.8% Female, 95.2%
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, 11.4% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 8.3% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between sommelier and head waitress 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.

Head waitress example responsibilities.

Manage a recurring book of business of top VIP clients secure through networking.
Task with preparing all espresso beverages, smoothies, and food on the menu.
Operate POS terminals to input customers orders, swipe credit cards, and enter cash amounts receive.
Complete closing duties; assuring staff have fully restock inventory, closing out nightly sales and POS system.
Ensure requirements for all guests are met including small children, disable guests, and guests with allergies.
Prepare a wide variety of food and beverages such as smoothies, frappuccinos, sandwiches, and soup.

Sommelier vs head waitress skills

Common sommelier skills

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

Common head waitress skills

Customer Service, 32%
Food Preparation, 7%
Customer Complaints, 5%
POS, 5%
Food Orders, 4%
Safety Procedures, 4%

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Sommelier
Sommelier vs Head Waitress

Updated January 8, 2025

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