• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021

35-3023 Fast Food and Counter Workers

Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table. May take payment. May prepare food and beverages. Counter attendants who also wait tables are included in “Waiters and Waitresses” (35-3031),

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National estimates for Fast Food and Counter Workers
Industry profile for Fast Food and Counter Workers
Geographic profile for Fast Food and Counter Workers

National estimates for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
3,095,120	0.9 %	$ 12.53	$ 26,060	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 8.77	$ 10.56	$ 12.07	$ 14.27	$ 15.51
Annual Wage (2)	$ 18,230	$ 21,970	$ 25,100	$ 29,680	$ 32,250

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Industry profile for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Fast Food and Counter Workers are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Fast Food and Counter Workers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	2,556,760	27.11	$ 12.26	$ 25,490
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	122,760	4.15	$ 13.94	$ 28,990
Special Food Services	92,810	19.59	$ 13.44	$ 27,960
Elementary and Secondary Schools	92,310	1.14	$ 13.87	$ 28,840
General Merchandise Stores	35,890	1.16	$ 15.69	$ 32,640

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	2,556,760	27.11	$ 12.26	$ 25,490
Special Food Services	92,810	19.59	$ 13.44	$ 27,960
Amusement Parks and Arcades	9,650	6.29	$ 12.26	$ 25,490
Book Stores and News Dealers	3,360	6.19	$ 12.18	$ 25,330
Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing	12,280	4.16	$ 14.09	$ 29,320

Top paying industries for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	7,090	0.34	$ 18.21	$ 37,880
Furniture Stores	970	0.46	$ 17.10	$ 35,560
Offices of Physicians	(8)	(8)	$ 17.08	$ 35,530
Religious Organizations	330	0.18	$ 17.03	$ 35,410
Animal Slaughtering and Processing	220	0.04	$ 16.70	$ 34,730

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Geographic profile for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Fast Food and Counter Workers are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Fast Food and Counter Workers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Fast Food and Counter Workers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	360,980	21.84	0.99	$ 15.61	$ 32,460
Texas	353,500	28.91	1.32	$ 10.80	$ 22,460
Florida	178,960	20.80	0.95	$ 11.20	$ 23,290
New York	161,790	18.66	0.85	$ 14.96	$ 31,120
Pennsylvania	121,170	21.70	0.99	$ 11.25	$ 23,400

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Fast Food and Counter Workers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Hawaii	17,560	32.03	1.46	$ 13.85	$ 28,810
South Dakota	12,620	29.96	1.36	$ 12.09	$ 25,150
Utah	45,490	29.26	1.33	$ 11.89	$ 24,730
Oregon	53,030	29.05	1.32	$ 14.42	$ 30,000
Arkansas	34,530	28.99	1.32	$ 11.68	$ 24,290

Top paying states for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	6,070	9.17	0.42	$ 16.56	$ 34,450
Washington	88,330	27.55	1.25	$ 15.82	$ 32,910
California	360,980	21.84	0.99	$ 15.61	$ 32,460
Massachusetts	78,480	23.12	1.05	$ 14.99	$ 31,170
Arizona	51,240	17.79	0.81	$ 14.98	$ 31,150

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	137,630	15.86	0.72	$ 15.12	$ 31,450
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	132,740	23.21	1.06	$ 15.33	$ 31,890
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	107,860	30.05	1.37	$ 11.35	$ 23,610
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	84,090	19.87	0.90	$ 12.77	$ 26,560
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	73,130	25.24	1.15	$ 11.04	$ 22,960
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	63,520	24.55	1.12	$ 11.60	$ 24,120
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	57,440	19.59	0.89	$ 13.99	$ 29,100
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	55,350	21.41	0.97	$ 15.00	$ 31,210
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	51,870	19.54	0.89	$ 12.33	$ 25,650
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	48,180	25.12	1.14	$ 16.46	$ 34,240

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Lubbock, TX	6,560	45.87	2.09	$ 10.14	$ 21,100
Grants Pass, OR	1,160	41.04	1.87	$ 13.58	$ 28,250
Lawrence, KS	1,870	40.75	1.85	$ 10.39	$ 21,600
Muncie, IN	1,770	40.63	1.85	$ 10.60	$ 22,050
Bay City, MI	1,300	40.62	1.85	$ 11.80	$ 24,540
Killeen-Temple, TX	5,610	40.20	1.83	$ 10.20	$ 21,220
Muskegon, MI	2,280	40.13	1.83	$ 11.50	$ 23,930
Monroe, MI	1,440	39.77	1.81	$ 11.82	$ 24,590
Kokomo, IN	1,420	39.38	1.79	$ 11.20	$ 23,300
Hinesville, GA	740	38.72	1.76	$ 10.96	$ 22,810