SOC 35-3031.00Bright outlook

    Waiters and Waitresses

    Take orders and serve food and beverages to patrons at tables in dining establishment.

    Median pay
    $35,230
    Growth
    +2.0%
    As fast as average
    Openings a year
    423,100
    Typical education
    No formal credential

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

    See the pathway

    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $18,100
    Median
    $35,230
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $64,720
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    2,270,910 people work in this occupation.

    What waiters and waitresses do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Take orders and serve food and beverages to patrons at tables in dining establishment.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    52 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    0 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    14 / 100
    Social (S)
    62 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    51 / 100
    Conventional (C) · strongest
    66 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code CSR. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
    75
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    72
    Performing General Physical Activities
    69
    Handling and Moving Objects
    67
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    66
    Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People
    62
    Getting Information
    57
    Assisting and Caring for Others
    54
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    54
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    52
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Service Orientation
    • Active Listening
    • Speaking
    • Social Perceptiveness
    • Coordination
    • Monitoring
    • Critical Thinking
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Persuasion
    • Reading Comprehension

    Knowledge

    • Customer and Personal Service
    • English Language
    • Sales and Marketing
    • Food Production
    • Mathematics
    • Administration and Management
    • Psychology
    • Education and Training
    • Computers and Electronics
    • Sociology and Anthropology

    Abilities

    • Oral Comprehension
    • Oral Expression
    • Speech Clarity
    • Speech Recognition
    • Stamina
    • Time Sharing
    • Trunk Strength
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
    • Deductive Reasoning

    Work styles

    • Social Orientation
    • Cooperation
    • Dependability
    • Optimism
    • Empathy
    • Self-Control
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Attention to Detail
    • Integrity
    • Adaptability

    Also called

    Banquet Server · Banquet Waiter · Banquet Waitress · Bar Waiter · Bar Waitress · Buffet Waiter · Buffet Waitress · Busser · Carhop · Club Waiter

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What waiters and waitresses may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Certifications

    Core certifications employers recognise for this work.

    Search all certifications on CareerOneStop

    Licenses by state

    9 states list a license for this work. Open your state for the license and the agency that issues it.

    Check license requirements on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 9, 2026.

    Your plan

    Build my pathway plan

    Courses, majors, colleges, scholarships and a timeline for this career, built from your profile.

    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

    All careers

    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    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. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 9, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.