Tray line worker vs catering assistant

The differences between tray line workers and catering assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a catering assistant has an average salary of $32,101, which is higher than the $24,035 average annual salary of a tray line worker.

The top three skills for a tray line worker include tray line, patients and kitchen equipment. The most important skills for a catering assistant are patients, food service, and customer service.

Tray line worker vs catering assistant overview

	Tray Line Worker	Catering Assistant
Yearly salary	$24,035	$32,101
Hourly rate	$11.56	$15.43
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	76,868	10,042
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	37	37
Years of experience	-	-

Tray line worker vs catering assistant salary

Tray line workers and catering assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Tray Line Worker	Catering Assistant
Average salary	$24,035	$32,101
Salary range	Between $18,000 And $31,000	Between $26,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Massachusetts General Hospital
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between tray line worker and catering assistant education

There are a few differences between a tray line worker and a catering assistant in terms of educational background:

	Tray Line Worker	Catering Assistant
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Tray line worker vs catering assistant demographics

Here are the differences between tray line workers' and catering assistants' demographics:

	Tray Line Worker	Catering Assistant
Average age	37	37
Gender ratio	Male, 37.1% Female, 62.9%	Male, 32.2% Female, 67.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 5.8% White, 59.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 7.2% White, 56.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between tray line worker and catering assistant duties and responsibilities

Tray line worker example responsibilities.

Prepare and go out to different homes, on campus, to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, to patients
Assist with planning and directing food preparation and culinary activities along with safely handling and storing all products appropriately.
Provide culinary and kitchen maintenance skills for both non-profit organization and private residence.

Catering assistant example responsibilities.

Manage and prioritize restaurant reservations.
Monitor patients who cannot receive anything by mouth (NPO) or on liquid diets.
Assist dieticians with monitoring of patients who are NPO, on liquid diets or need to have intake record.
Run POS for student payments, including meal cards and cash.
Comply with regulator agency standards, including federal, state and JCAHO.
Adhere to HIPAA guidelines while processing menu orders with the patient information.

Tray line worker vs catering assistant skills

Common tray line worker skills

Tray Line, 30%
Patients, 30%
Kitchen Equipment, 11%
Food Trays, 8%
Production Orders, 6%
Assembly Line, 5%

Common catering assistant skills

Patients, 25%
Food Service, 21%
Customer Service, 12%
Food Safety, 7%
Food Delivery, 6%
Beverage Service, 4%

Tray Line Worker vs. similar jobs

Tray Line Worker related careers

Tray Line Worker related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Tray Line Worker
Tray Line Worker vs Catering Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse food preparation and restaurant jobs