Earnings in food services and drinking places usually are much lower than the average for all industries (table 3). In 2002, average weekly earnings were highest in special food services ($258) and lowest in drinking places, alcoholic beverages ($171). Average weekly hours in all food service industries were lower than the average for private industry. Low earnings are supplemented for many workers by tips from customers. Waiters, waitresses, and bartenders, for example, often derive the majority of their earnings from tips, which depend on menu prices and the volume of customers served. In some establishments, workers who receive tips share a portion of their gratuities with other workers in the dining room and kitchen.
Table 3. Average earnings and hours of nonsupervisory workers in food services and drinking places by industry segment, 2002
| Industry segment |
Earnings |
Weekly
hours |
| Weekly |
Hourly |
| |
|
|
|
| Total, private industry |
$506 |
$14.95 |
33.9 |
| |
|
|
|
| Food services and drinking places |
189 |
7.56 |
25.0 |
Special food services |
258 |
9.89 |
26.1 |
Full-service restaurants |
193 |
7.57 |
25.5 |
Limited-service eating places |
177 |
7.20 |
24.6 |
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages) |
171 |
7.52 |
22.7 |
Earnings vary by occupation, geographic area, and by type and size of establishment.
Usually skilled workers, such as chefs, have the highest wages, and workers who are dependent upon tips to
supplement earnings have the lowest. Many workers in the industry earn the Federal minimum wage of
$5.15 an hour, or less if tips are included as a substantial part of earnings. A number of
employers provide free or discounted meals and uniforms to employees. Earnings in the largest occupations
employed in food services and drinking places appear in table 4.
Table 4. Median hourly earnings of the largest occupations in food services and drinking places, 2002
| Occupation |
Food services
and drinking
places |
All
industries |
| First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers |
$11.32 |
$11.73 |
| Cooks, restaurant |
9.00 |
9.16 |
| Food preparation workers |
7.43 |
7.85 |
| Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop |
7.19 |
7.32 |
| Bartenders |
7.12 |
7.21 |
| Dishwashers |
7.06 |
7.15 |
| Cashiers |
6.94 |
7.41 |
| Cooks, fast food |
6.88 |
6.90 |
| Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food |
6.87 |
6.97 |
| Waiters and waitresses |
6.76 |
6.80 |
Unionization is not widespread in the food services and
drinking places industry. In 2002, less than 2 percent of all employees were union members or covered by
union contracts, compared with about 15 percent for all industries.
|
