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Industries at a Glance
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Food Services and Drinking Places: NAICS 722
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About the Food Services and Drinking Places subsector
The food services and drinking places subsector is part of the accommodation and food services sector.
Industries in the Food Services and Drinking Places subsector prepare meals, snacks, and beverages to customer order for immediate on-premises and off-premises consumption. There is a wide range of establishments in these industries. Some provide food and drink only; while others provide various combinations of seating space, waiter/waitress services and incidental amenities, such as limited entertainment. The industries in the subsector are grouped based on the type and level of services provided. The industry groups are full-service restaurants; limited-service eating places; special food services, such as food service contractors, caterers, and mobile food services; and drinking places.
North American Industry Classification System
The food services and drinking places subsector consists of these industry groups:
- Full-Service Restaurants: NAICS 7221
- Limited-Service Eating Places: NAICS 7222
- Special Food Services: NAICS 7223
- Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages): NAICS 7224
Workforce Statistics
This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in food services and drinking places. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, union membership and representation, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.
Employment and Unemployment
| Data series | Back data |
Jan. 2025 |
Feb. 2025 |
Mar. 2025 |
Apr. 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employment (in thousands) |
|||||
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) |
|
12,338.0 | 12,299.1 | (p)12,329.8 | (p)12,346.4 |
|
|
10,522.0 | 10,553.7 | (p)10,675.5 | ||
Unemployment |
|||||
|
|
7.6% | 7.9% | 6.8% | 5.5% | |
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey
Union Membership and Representation
| Data series | Back data |
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Union membership and representation |
|||||
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
1.2% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.6% |
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
1.6% | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.9% |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
Employment by Occupation
| Data series | Employment, 2024 |
|---|---|
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food |
3,297,540 |
| 646,740 | |
| 1,281,780 | |
First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers |
982,700 |
| 1,976,940 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
Projections
For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for food services and drinking places.
(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)
Earnings and Hours
This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in food services and drinking places.
Earnings and Hours of All Employees
| Data series | Back data |
Dec. 2024 |
Jan. 2025 |
Feb. 2025 |
Mar. 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
$21.13 | $20.92 | $21.13 | (p)$21.13 | |
|
|
25.2 | 24.0 | 24.9 | (p)25.3 | |
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees
| Data series | Back data |
Dec. 2024 |
Jan. 2025 |
Feb. 2025 |
Mar. 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
$19.17 | $18.93 | $19.19 | (p)$19.23 | |
|
|
23.8 | 22.5 | 23.4 | (p)23.8 | |
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Union Membership and Representation
| Data series | Back data |
Median weekly earnings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
Union membership and representation |
|||||
|
|
$609 | $668 | $701 | $728 | |
|
|
$709 | $791 | $756 | $802 | |
|
|
$725 | $812 | $753 | $805 | |
|
|
$607 | $665 | $700 | $726 | |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
Earnings by Occupation
| Data series | Wages, 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | Annual | |||
| Median | Mean | Median | Mean | |
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food |
14.48 | 14.89 | 30,110 | 30,980 |
| 14.49 | 14.95 | 30,130 | 31,090 | |
| 17.61 | 17.91 | 36,630 | 37,240 | |
First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers |
18.87 | 21.04 | 39,260 | 43,770 |
| 16.16 | 18.32 | 33,610 | 38,110 | |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses
This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in food services and drinking places. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.
| Data series | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fatalities |
||||
| 145 | ||||
|
There was a series break beginning with 2023 data due to NAICS 2022. Data for years prior to 2023 are available at www.bls.gov/iif. |
||||
| Data series | 2023 |
|---|---|
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers |
|
| 2.4 | |
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer |
1.1 |
| 0.8 | |
| 0.3 | |
|
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. |
|
(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
Workplace Trends
This section presents data on the number of establishments in food services and drinking places. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.
Establishments
| Data series | Back data |
4th quarter 2023 |
1st quarter 2024 |
2nd quarter 2024 |
3rd quarter 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of establishments |
|||||
|
|
710,310 | (p)712,734 | (p)719,216 | (p)724,335 | |
|
|
523 | (p)520 | (p)523 | (p)525 | |
|
|
4 | (p)4 | (p)4 | (p)4 | |
|
|
186 | (p)185 | (p)182 | (p)179 | |
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
Productivity
This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.
| Data series | Back data |
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
-5.5 | 7.6 | -0.2 | -0.5 | |
|
|
-18.0 | 22.4 | 7.9 | 4.3 | |
|
|
-13.2 | 13.8 | 8.1 | 4.8 | |
|
|
-2.2 | 5.1 | 0.7 | 1.6 | |
|
|
-19.0 | 9.3 | 8.2 | 3.3 | |
|
|
2.9 | 9.9 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
(Source: Productivity)
Data extracted on: May 16, 2025