Restaurants · FF-005
U.S. Restaurant Workforce & Pay
Explore the scale of the U.S. food-service workforce, pay across major restaurant occupations, industry earnings and hours, and the growing establishment footprint.
Interactive comparison
Employment by food-service occupation
Compare the largest food-service occupations, average hourly pay, or the food-service establishment footprint.
What the data shows
Restaurant work is one of the country's largest employment ecosystems
Restaurant occupations
Employment and pay benchmarks
National BLS OEWS estimates for May 2025. Mean wages include reported tips where applicable under BLS wage concepts.
| Occupation | Employment | Mean hourly wage | Mean annual wage | Median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fast food & counter workers | 3,854,050 | $15.46 | $32,150 | $15.00 |
| Waiters & waitresses | 2,270,910 | $19.26 | $40,060 | $16.94 |
| Restaurant cooks | 1,409,890 | $18.62 | $38,730 | $17.98 |
| Food preparation workers | 893,600 | $16.96 | $35,290 | $16.98 |
| Bartenders | 756,390 | $19.61 | $40,790 | $16.51 |
| Dishwashers | 477,450 | $16.49 | $34,310 | $16.73 |
| Hosts & hostesses | 432,690 | $15.72 | $32,690 | $15.00 |
| Chefs & head cooks | 200,040 | $32.07 | $66,700 | $30.03 |
Industry earnings & hours
Food services and drinking places
Establishment footprint
More than 700,000 U.S. food-service locations
Census County Business Patterns counted 714,532 employer establishments in NAICS 722 in 2023. BLS QCEW's more recent quarterly series reached 727,722 private-industry establishments in Q3 2025; the two programs have different reference periods and should not be treated as one continuous series.
Methodology & sources
About these figures
This page combines complementary official datasets rather than forcing unlike measures into a single series. Industry earnings and hours come from BLS Current Employment Statistics for NAICS 722. Occupation employment and wages come from the May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release. Establishment counts use Census County Business Patterns for the stable annual benchmark and BLS QCEW for more recent quarterly context.
Primary sources: BLS Food Services and Drinking Places · BLS OEWS May 2025 · Census NAICS 722 profile.
CalculateMeasure refresh: Aug. 22, 2026 · Review cadence: Monthly for CES; quarterly for QCEW; annual for OEWS and CBP.
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