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Food Services and Drinking Places: NAICS 722

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	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	12,043.1	12,071.9	(p)12,160.7	(p)12,230.6
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees	10,555.8	10,492.8	(p)10,328.2
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	5.5%	5.2%	5.7%	5.0%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Union Membership and Representation


Data series	2019	2020	2021	2022
Union membership and representation
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	1.4%	1.2%	1.2%	1.4%
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	1.9%	1.5%	1.6%	1.7%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2021
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	2,651,400
Cooks, fast food	746,800
Cooks, restaurant	1,077,260
First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers	862,550
Waiters and waitresses	1,595,530

(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	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023
Average hourly earnings	$19.01	$19.07	$19.42	(p)$19.21
Average weekly hours	25.3	24.9	24.5	(p)24.9
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023
Average hourly earnings	$17.28	$17.30	$17.55	(p)$17.31
Average weekly hours	24.3	23.8	23.6	(p)23.7
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation


Data series	Back data	Median weekly earnings
Data series	Back data	2019	2020	2021	2022
Union membership and representation
Full-time workers		$562	$582	$609	$668
Members of unions		$611	$690	$709	$791
Represented by unions		$595	$660	$725	$812
Nonunion		$560	$580	$607	$665

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2021
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	11.61	12.30	24,160	25,580
Cooks, fast food	11.57	12.23	24,060	25,430
Cooks, restaurant	14.37	15.09	29,890	31,380
First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers	17.12	18.34	35,620	38,140
Waiters and waitresses	12.44	13.95	25,880	29,020

(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	2018	2019	2020	2021
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	129	151	127	128
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.


Data series	2021
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	2.6
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	1.1
Cases involving days away from work	0.8
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	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	4th quarter 2021	1st quarter 2022	2nd quarter 2022	3rd quarter 2022
Number of establishments
Private industry	675,513	(p)676,877	(p)681,827	(p)687,732
Local government	527	(p)523	(p)521	(p)520
State government	3	(p)4	(p)4	(p)3
Federal government	189	(p)185	(p)184	(p)184
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity


Data series	2018	2019	2020	2021
Labor productivity index, output per hour	102.881	104.511	105.199	117.138
Percent change from previous year	1.3	1.6	0.7	11.3
Labor index, total labor hours	117.194	118.491	95.947	106.033
Percent change from previous year	1.6	1.1	-19.0	10.5
Output index	120.571	123.836	100.936	124.205
Percent change from previous year	2.9	2.7	-18.5	23.1
Unit labor costs index	114.896	116.238	115.282	117.172
Percent change from previous year	1.2	1.2	-0.8	1.6

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Data extracted on: March 24, 2023

Food Services and Drinking Places: NAICS 722

On This Page

About the Food Services and Drinking Places subsector

Workforce Statistics

Employment and Unemployment

Union Membership and Representation

Employment by Occupation

Projections

Earnings and Hours

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Union Membership and Representation

Earnings by Occupation

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

Workplace Trends

Establishments

Productivity