Sommelier vs server and hostess

The differences between sommeliers and server and hostesses 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 $28,020 average annual salary of a server and hostess.

The top three skills for a sommelier include wine, fine dining and POS. The most important skills for a server and hostess are POS, food preparation, and food orders.

Sommelier vs server and hostess overview

	Sommelier	Server And Hostess
Yearly salary	$40,584	$28,020
Hourly rate	$19.51	$13.47
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	1,802	97,109
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	High School Diploma, 39%
Average age	28	28
Years of experience	-	-

Sommelier vs server and hostess salary

Sommeliers and server and hostesses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sommelier	Server And Hostess
Average salary	$40,584	$28,020
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $68,000	Between $21,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Binghamton, NY
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	Del Frisco's Restaurant Group	Blue Dolphin Energy
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Hospitality

Differences between sommelier and server and hostess education

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

	Sommelier	Server And Hostess
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	High School Diploma, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Sommelier vs server and hostess demographics

Here are the differences between sommeliers' and server and hostesses' demographics:

	Sommelier	Server And Hostess
Average age	28	28
Gender ratio	Male, 68.3% Female, 31.7%	Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7%
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, 20.8% Asian, 8.2% White, 53.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between sommelier and server and hostess 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.

Server and hostess example responsibilities.

Assist guests in booking reservations and manage guest history data using OpenTable reservation system.
Provide quality customer service, process customer transactions utilizing proprietary POS system, skillfully handle cash and credit card transactions.
Perform bartending duties during busy events or whenever require.
Coordinate with kitchen managerial staff using POS systems to ensure timely and accurate order preparation.
Provide guests with an excellent dining experience by asking questions about allergies or preferences and initiating conversation for customer confidence.
Manage expediter window paying close attention to garnishes and presentation.

Sommelier vs server and hostess skills

Common sommelier skills

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

Common server and hostess skills

POS, 11%
Food Preparation, 10%
Food Orders, 9%
Customer Orders, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Drink Orders, 5%

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Sommelier
Sommelier vs Server And Hostess

Updated January 8, 2025

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