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| Career | Median yearly payAll workers · May 2025 | Projected growth2025–35 | Openings per yearprojected, 2025–35 | Typical 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.
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