Waiter and cashier vs restaurant server

The differences between waiter and cashiers and restaurant servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a waiter and cashier has an average salary of $24,818, which is higher than the $24,558 average annual salary of a restaurant server.

The top three skills for a waiter and cashier include dishes, POS and customer service. The most important skills for a restaurant server are wine, exceptional dining, and guest satisfaction.

Waiter and cashier vs restaurant server overview

	Waiter And Cashier	Restaurant Server
Yearly salary	$24,818	$24,558
Hourly rate	$11.93	$11.81
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	133,966	141,250
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	28	28
Years of experience	-	-

Waiter and cashier vs restaurant server salary

Waiter and cashiers and restaurant servers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Waiter And Cashier	Restaurant Server
Average salary	$24,818	$24,558
Salary range	Between $18,000 And $33,000	Between $15,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Agriculture

Differences between waiter and cashier and restaurant server education

There are a few differences between a waiter and cashier and a restaurant server in terms of educational background:

	Waiter And Cashier	Restaurant Server
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Waiter and cashier vs restaurant server demographics

Here are the differences between waiter and cashiers' and restaurant servers' demographics:

	Waiter And Cashier	Restaurant Server
Average age	28	28
Gender ratio	Male, 73.0% Female, 27.0%	Male, 40.8% Female, 59.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 25.6% Asian, 10.6% White, 48.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 9.4% White, 52.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between waiter and cashier and restaurant server duties and responsibilities

Waiter and cashier example responsibilities.

Manage restaurant sections in order to equalize seating arrangements for each waiter and ensure the restaurant are stocked and well maintain.
Maintain a POS cash drawer, collect payments, and apply discounts for orders.
Learned and aptly operate sophisticated touch-screen POS system contributing to increase efficiency and speed of service.
Operate large volume cooking equipment like buger grills, fryers, and/or griddles.

Restaurant server example responsibilities.

Demonstrate adequate culinary and Italian wine knowledge through suggestive selling.
Input orders in micros and issue guest check for each order.
Prepare the groceries for the customer in their request baggage handing.3.
Maintain clean, sanitize FOH area and ensure health & safety and hygiene procedures and standards are meet.
Work with operations manager in ordering and setting up all FOH systems need in opening a new restaurant.
Provide thorough knowledge of the restaurant's menu to make recommendations or answer questions, and enter POS charges.

Waiter and cashier vs restaurant server skills

Common waiter and cashier skills

Dishes, 42%
POS, 8%
Customer Service, 6%
Clean Tables, 4%
Food Service, 4%
Drink Orders, 4%

Common restaurant server skills

Wine, 28%
Exceptional Dining, 6%
Guest Satisfaction, 5%
Cleanliness, 5%
POS, 5%
Food Service, 5%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Waiter And Cashier
Waiter And Cashier vs Restaurant Server

Updated January 8, 2025

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