An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

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	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	12,293.3	12,284.0	(p)12,332.3	(p)12,324.8
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees	11,106.9	11,089.1	(p)10,896.7
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	6.6%	6.3%	5.8%	5.4%
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, 2022
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	2,884,270
Cooks, fast food	707,660
Cooks, restaurant	1,175,470
First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers	974,260
Waiters and waitresses	1,859,020

(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	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023
Average hourly earnings	$19.64	$19.64	$19.71	(p)$19.80
Average weekly hours	25.2	25.4	25.2	(p)25.1
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023
Average hourly earnings	$17.89	$17.93	$17.99	(p)$17.98
Average weekly hours	24.1	24.3	24.1	(p)23.9
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, 2022
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	13.31	13.30	27,690	27,670
Cooks, fast food	13.28	13.40	27,620	27,870
Cooks, restaurant	16.21	16.12	33,720	33,530
First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers	17.52	19.24	36,450	40,030
Waiters and waitresses	13.97	15.87	29,050	33,020

(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	2022
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	2.4
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	2nd quarter 2022	3rd quarter 2022	4th quarter 2022	1st quarter 2023
Number of establishments
Private industry	682,105	688,839	693,068	(p)695,821
Local government	523	523	522	(p)521
State government	4	3	4	(p)4
Federal government	184	184	186	(p)187
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity


Data series	2019	2020	2021	2022
Labor productivity index, output per hour	104.357	106.332	117.850	117.541
Percent change from previous year	2.0	1.9	10.8	-0.3
Labor index, total labor hours	118.667	94.925	105.392	113.579
Percent change from previous year	0.7	-20.0	11.0	7.8
Output index	123.836	100.936	124.205	133.503
Percent change from previous year	2.7	-18.5	23.1	7.5
Unit labor costs index	116.217	115.430	117.144	128.163
Percent change from previous year	1.2	-0.7	1.5	9.4

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Data extracted on: November 29, 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