• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022

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)
3,325,050	0.7 %	$ 13.53	$ 28,130	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 10.17	$ 11.06	$ 13.43	$ 15.13	$ 17.00
Annual Wage (2)	$ 21,150	$ 23,010	$ 27,930	$ 31,480	$ 35,350

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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	2,753,460	26.44	$ 13.25	$ 27,560
Special Food Services	129,360	20.31	$ 14.37	$ 29,890
Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only)	111,100	3.72	$ 14.99	$ 31,180
Elementary and Secondary Schools	80,740	0.96	$ 15.67	$ 32,600
Gasoline Stations	43,570	4.62	$ 13.25	$ 27,560

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	2,753,460	26.44	$ 13.25	$ 27,560
Special Food Services	129,360	20.31	$ 14.37	$ 29,890
Book Retailers and News Dealers	5,960	8.10	$ 13.38	$ 27,830
Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing	14,820	4.65	$ 14.76	$ 30,710
Gasoline Stations	43,570	4.62	$ 13.25	$ 27,560

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)	6,510	0.31	$ 19.93	$ 41,450
Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities	(8)	(8)	$ 18.43	$ 38,330
Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers	60	0.01	$ 18.02	$ 37,470
Offices of Physicians	140	0.01	$ 18.01	$ 37,450
Furniture and Home Furnishings Retailers	1,460	0.31	$ 17.62	$ 36,640

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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	394,660	22.38	1.00	$ 16.60	$ 34,530
Texas	328,900	25.31	1.13	$ 11.59	$ 24,120
Florida	183,470	19.92	0.89	$ 12.41	$ 25,800
New York	183,270	20.12	0.89	$ 16.04	$ 33,370
Ohio	136,220	25.34	1.13	$ 12.07	$ 25,100

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	20,340	34.19	1.52	$ 14.02	$ 29,170
South Dakota	14,300	32.86	1.46	$ 12.89	$ 26,800
Montana	15,110	30.87	1.37	$ 12.80	$ 26,630
Utah	50,100	30.79	1.37	$ 12.52	$ 26,040
Arkansas	36,520	29.67	1.32	$ 12.30	$ 25,580

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	6,210	9.00	0.40	$ 17.33	$ 36,040
Washington	98,870	29.03	1.29	$ 16.81	$ 34,960
California	394,660	22.38	1.00	$ 16.60	$ 34,530
Massachusetts	86,230	24.18	1.08	$ 16.12	$ 33,520
New York	183,270	20.12	0.89	$ 16.04	$ 33,370

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	164,140	17.87	0.79	$ 16.08	$ 33,450
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	140,830	23.09	1.03	$ 16.43	$ 34,180
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	101,030	26.55	1.18	$ 12.14	$ 25,260
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	92,840	21.02	0.93	$ 14.28	$ 29,700
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	68,660	22.48	1.00	$ 11.74	$ 24,420
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	62,470	22.90	1.02	$ 11.65	$ 24,230
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	61,140	22.07	0.98	$ 13.26	$ 27,570
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	60,330	22.31	0.99	$ 16.22	$ 33,730
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	58,120	26.18	1.16	$ 15.53	$ 32,300
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	56,650	18.71	0.83	$ 15.12	$ 31,440

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)
Flagstaff, AZ	3,300	53.42	2.38	$ 14.46	$ 30,070
Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ	2,760	50.74	2.26	$ 14.12	$ 29,360
Muskegon, MI	2,900	47.54	2.11	$ 12.62	$ 26,250
Bay City, MI	1,530	45.39	2.02	$ 12.33	$ 25,640
Lawrence, KS	2,160	44.43	1.98	$ 11.39	$ 23,680
Muncie, IN	1,920	43.42	1.93	$ 11.42	$ 23,750
Kokomo, IN	1,480	42.42	1.89	$ 12.15	$ 25,280
Grants Pass, OR	1,190	40.99	1.82	$ 14.26	$ 29,670
Rapid City, SD	2,790	39.92	1.78	$ 12.73	$ 26,480
Valdosta, GA	2,090	39.31	1.75	$ 10.06	$ 20,920