Pay · 35-9031
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop earn $31,200 a year at the midpoint
Starting pay is close to the middle here: the 25th percentile is $27,570 against a median of $31,200, so the first years are not a long climb.
National figures for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop, 35-9031, 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.”
Restaurant host 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 →
Resumes for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Provided guests with menus.
- Greeted guests and seat them at tables or in waiting areas.
- Maintained contact with kitchen staff, management, serving staff, and customers to ensure that dining details are handled properly and customers' concerns are addressed.
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.
Examples
Resumes written for this line of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
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Number 786 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 0% of the occupations in the survey.
- 784 Shampooers $32,600
- 785 Amusement and Recreation Attendants $32,150
- 786 Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop $31,200
- 787 Fast Food and Counter Workers $31,200
- 788 Cooks, Fast Food $30,890
Restaurant host wages in each state
The 37 states where the most people do this work, of 51 with a published figure: their medians range by 2.14 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $47,070 | $29,710 | $29,710 — $62,560 | 2,650 |
| Oregon | $40,720 | $30,850 | $30,850 — $62,030 | 5,740 |
| Washington | $37,270 | $34,650 | $34,650 — $59,430 | 9,530 |
| California | $36,640 | $34,360 | $34,360 — $46,060 | 41,100 |
| New York | $36,490 | $32,910 | $32,910 — $53,060 | 18,640 |
| Colorado | $36,340 | $30,800 | $30,800 — $55,660 | 9,490 |
| Massachusetts | $34,960 | $31,200 | $31,200 — $41,740 | 13,540 |
| Maryland | $34,860 | $31,200 | $31,200 — $38,180 | 7,390 |
| Arizona | $34,740 | $30,710 | $30,710 — $46,850 | 10,710 |
| Connecticut | $34,210 | $34,010 | $34,010 — $44,060 | 3,670 |
| New Jersey | $34,050 | $32,220 | $32,220 — $43,160 | 9,420 |
| Illinois | $31,200 | $31,200 | $31,200 — $44,720 | 16,500 |
| Nevada | $31,170 | $25,150 | $25,150 — $48,810 | 6,570 |
| Virginia | $30,490 | $27,230 | $27,230 — $44,630 | 10,890 |
| Minnesota | $30,200 | $24,000 | $24,000 — $38,960 | 7,150 |
| Florida | $29,810 | $27,750 | $27,750 — $43,680 | 37,100 |
| Utah | $29,610 | $22,040 | $22,040 — $45,100 | 4,950 |
| Pennsylvania | $29,170 | $20,800 | $20,800 — $41,380 | 18,020 |
| Missouri | $29,130 | $28,600 | $28,600 — $37,440 | 8,510 |
| Michigan | $28,950 | $25,960 | $25,960 — $37,270 | 12,620 |
| New Mexico | $28,480 | $26,830 | $26,830 — $35,180 | 2,670 |
| Nebraska | $28,450 | $28,080 | $28,080 — $38,750 | 2,830 |
| North Carolina | $28,320 | $19,100 | $19,100 — $36,460 | 15,160 |
| Kansas | $28,110 | $18,040 | $18,040 — $39,040 | 4,540 |
| Wisconsin | $28,060 | $17,830 | $17,830 — $37,440 | 6,430 |
| Georgia | $27,850 | $19,890 | $19,890 — $34,900 | 17,300 |
| Ohio | $27,550 | $22,870 | $22,870 — $37,320 | 15,480 |
| Tennessee | $27,490 | $20,180 | $20,180 — $35,770 | 11,280 |
| Kentucky | $27,100 | $19,150 | $19,150 — $35,300 | 5,120 |
| Texas | $27,080 | $17,270 | $17,270 — $36,870 | 35,550 |
| South Carolina | $27,000 | $17,740 | $17,740 — $37,230 | 7,990 |
| Indiana | $26,920 | $19,290 | $19,290 — $37,060 | 9,730 |
| Arkansas | $26,760 | $23,460 | $23,460 — $33,560 | 3,110 |
| Alabama | $26,130 | $21,230 | $21,230 — $34,400 | 5,400 |
| Oklahoma | $24,740 | $18,810 | $18,810 — $39,310 | 5,060 |
| Louisiana | $22,060 | $16,280 | $16,280 — $31,610 | 6,440 |
| Mississippi | $21,990 | $17,240 | $17,240 — $28,890 | 2,660 |
Restaurant host 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.
What people often ask
What is a restaurant host’s yearly income?
A restaurant host makes a median of $31,200 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $27,570 and $36,250.
What is a restaurant host’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $15.00 an hour; the average is $32,690 a year.
What is the starting pay for a restaurant host?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $27,570 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $22,340.
Which state pays hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop the most?
Hawaii, with a median of $47,070 a year.
How many people work as hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop?
About 432,690 in the United States — number 786 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays roughly the same
Median pay within $950 of what hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop earn — $31,200 a year — but not always the same spread.
- Same median Fast Food and Counter Workers $31,200median a year 10th percentile: $22,840 90th percentile: $42,650
- $310 less Cooks, Fast Food $30,890median a year 10th percentile: $22,580 90th percentile: $42,910
- $950 more Amusement and Recreation Attendants $32,150median a year 10th percentile: $22,350 90th percentile: $42,490