Pay · 35-3041
Food Servers, Nonrestaurant earn $35,360 a year at the midpoint
Starting pay is close to the middle here: the 25th percentile is $31,190 against a median of $35,360, so the first years are not a long climb.
National figures for food servers, nonrestaurant, 35-3041, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- The annual figure is arithmetic. For hourly occupations the annual figure is the hourly rate times 2080 hours. It is a calculation, not observed earnings: part time is the norm in retail and food service.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Nonrestaurant food server earnings, from starting pay to the top 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Examples
Resumes written for this kind of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
- Food Server, Nonrestaurant Resume Template Food Service
- Server Resume Template Food Service
- Fast Food Counter Worker Resume Template Food Service
- Bartender Resume Template Food Service
- Food Preparation Worker Resume Template Food Service
- Cook Resume Template Food Service
- Short Order Cook Resume Template Food Service
- Restaurant Cook Resume Template Food Service
- Private Household Cook Resume Template Food Service
- Institutional Cook Resume Template Food Service
- Fast Food Cook Resume Template Food Service
- Food Service Supervisor Resume Template Food Service
Number 764 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 3% of the occupations in the survey.
- 762 Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians $35,450
- 763 Retail salespersons $35,410
- 764 Food Servers, Nonrestaurant $35,360
- 765 Animal Caretakers $35,360
- 766 Food Preparation Workers $35,320
Writing a resume for food servers, nonrestaurant
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Placed food servings on plates or trays according to orders or instructions.
- Cleaned or sterilized dishes, kitchen utensils, equipment, or facilities.
- Monitored food distribution, ensuring that meals are delivered to the correct recipients and that guidelines, such as those for special diets, are followed.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Nonrestaurant food server pay rate, from hourly to yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Nonrestaurant food server wages by state
The 42 states where the most people do this work, of 51 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.45 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $39,370 | $33,110 | $33,110 — $52,630 | 17,520 |
| California | $39,010 | $35,120 | $35,120 — $57,550 | 32,430 |
| Colorado | $38,900 | $31,860 | $31,860 — $51,440 | 7,750 |
| Washington | $38,870 | $35,050 | $35,050 — $50,910 | 8,050 |
| District of Columbia | $37,920 | $36,400 | $36,400 — $54,650 | 1,260 |
| North Dakota | $36,910 | $31,140 | $31,140 — $46,320 | 1,630 |
| Massachusetts | $36,750 | $33,990 | $33,990 — $47,630 | 5,830 |
| New Hampshire | $36,710 | $28,710 | $28,710 — $46,090 | 1,770 |
| Maryland | $36,650 | $31,840 | $31,840 — $42,930 | 6,600 |
| Oregon | $36,620 | $33,240 | $33,240 — $48,660 | 4,420 |
| New Jersey | $36,390 | $32,220 | $32,220 — $43,800 | 11,400 |
| Nevada | $36,030 | $29,110 | $29,110 — $51,000 | 1,820 |
| Minnesota | $36,000 | $31,760 | $31,760 — $44,370 | 11,090 |
| Connecticut | $35,950 | $34,040 | $34,040 — $42,850 | 5,050 |
| Arizona | $35,390 | $31,400 | $31,400 — $46,370 | 4,620 |
| Virginia | $35,090 | $29,040 | $29,040 — $42,930 | 7,420 |
| Illinois | $35,080 | $31,200 | $31,200 — $41,960 | 17,560 |
| Rhode Island | $34,860 | $31,320 | $31,320 — $42,990 | 1,020 |
| Wisconsin | $34,670 | $28,640 | $28,640 — $44,080 | 6,680 |
| Michigan | $34,260 | $28,730 | $28,730 — $38,180 | 7,700 |
| Florida | $33,930 | $29,210 | $29,210 — $39,000 | 19,240 |
| Pennsylvania | $33,300 | $27,450 | $27,450 — $42,980 | 13,940 |
| Kentucky | $32,200 | $25,790 | $25,790 — $42,060 | 3,660 |
| Montana | $32,090 | $23,010 | $23,010 — $38,210 | 1,050 |
| Indiana | $31,840 | $26,360 | $26,360 — $38,350 | 3,900 |
| Missouri | $31,840 | $28,600 | $28,600 — $38,370 | 7,490 |
| South Carolina | $31,740 | $19,100 | $19,100 — $37,480 | 2,990 |
| Nebraska | $31,540 | $28,790 | $28,790 — $38,510 | 3,800 |
| Georgia | $31,530 | $25,850 | $25,850 — $39,610 | 4,970 |
| North Carolina | $31,460 | $23,760 | $23,760 — $40,110 | 8,820 |
| Delaware | $31,430 | $31,200 | $31,200 — $44,730 | 1,010 |
| Tennessee | $30,670 | $22,620 | $22,620 — $46,750 | 5,230 |
| Ohio | $30,440 | $26,450 | $26,450 — $38,310 | 15,320 |
| Utah | $30,170 | $23,120 | $23,120 — $41,600 | 2,430 |
| Iowa | $30,110 | $27,020 | $27,020 — $36,600 | 5,270 |
| Texas | $29,300 | $21,930 | $21,930 — $36,930 | 14,340 |
| Kansas | $29,040 | $21,770 | $21,770 — $35,250 | 1,270 |
| Alabama | $29,000 | $23,080 | $23,080 — $35,770 | 2,920 |
| Oklahoma | $28,490 | $23,030 | $23,030 — $37,850 | 1,760 |
| Arkansas | $27,600 | $23,920 | $23,920 — $34,430 | 3,540 |
| Mississippi | $27,250 | $19,940 | $19,940 — $34,270 | 1,860 |
| Louisiana | $27,200 | $18,580 | $18,580 — $32,540 | 2,380 |
What people often ask
What is a nonrestaurant food server’s yearly income?
A nonrestaurant food server makes a median of $35,360 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $31,190 and $38,500.
What is a nonrestaurant food server’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $17.00 an hour; the average is $36,140 a year.
What is the starting pay for a nonrestaurant food server?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $31,190 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $28,030.
Which state pays food servers, nonrestaurant the most?
New York, with a median of $39,370 a year.
How many people work as food servers, nonrestaurant?
About 293,900 in the United States — number 764 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays roughly the same
Median pay within $50 of what food servers, nonrestaurant earn — $35,360 a year — but not always the same spread.
- Same median Animal Caretakers $35,360median a year 10th percentile: $27,250 90th percentile: $50,060
- $40 less Food Preparation Workers $35,320median a year 10th percentile: $25,810 90th percentile: $45,340
- $50 more Retail salespersons $35,410median a year 10th percentile: $27,210 90th percentile: $47,890