Vocational Index

Careers · Field

Food service

17 careers in food service.

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CareerMedian yearly payAll workers · May 2025Projected growth2025–35Openings per yearprojected, 2025–35Typical education to start
Fast food and counter workers No bachelor's needed $31,200 +5.8% 827,400 No formal educational credential
Waiters and waitresses No bachelor's needed $35,230 +2.0% 423,100 No formal educational credential
Cooks, restaurant No bachelor's needed $37,390 +12.1% 218,600 No formal educational credential
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers No bachelor's needed $44,080 +5.4% 171,500 High school diploma or equivalent
Food preparation workers No bachelor's needed $35,320 -3.0% 135,700 No formal educational credential
Bartenders No bachelor's needed $34,340 +5.0% 121,200 No formal educational credential
Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop No bachelor's needed $31,200 +3.4% 107,100 No formal educational credential
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers No bachelor's needed $33,980 +5.3% 95,300 No formal educational credential
Cooks, fast food No bachelor's needed $30,890 +0.6% 86,400 No formal educational credential
Dishwashers No bachelor's needed $34,810 -1.0% 68,900 No formal educational credential
Cooks, institution and cafeteria No bachelor's needed $37,450 +2.8% 62,900 No formal educational credential
Food servers, nonrestaurant No bachelor's needed $35,360 +4.5% 48,800 No formal educational credential
Chefs and head cooks Strong outlook No bachelor's needed $62,470 +6.6% 25,200 High school diploma or equivalent
Cooks, short order No bachelor's needed $35,880 -5.2% 17,400 No formal educational credential
Food preparation and serving related workers, all other No bachelor's needed $35,840 +5.5% 11,800 No formal educational credential
Cooks, private household No bachelor's needed $47,940 +5.1% 5,000 Postsecondary nondegree award
Cooks, all other No bachelor's needed $37,690 +5.2% 2,800 No formal educational credential

Median yearly pay is from May 2025, for all workers at every experience level: half earn more, half less. Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025 to 2035; openings include jobs that come open as people retire or change careers.