• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023

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)
3,676,580	0.6 %	$ 14.48	$ 30,110	0.6 %

Percentile wage estimates for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 10.67	$ 12.64	$ 14.20	$ 16.55	$ 17.73
Annual Wage (2)	$ 22,190	$ 26,280	$ 29,540	$ 34,430	$ 36,880

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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	3,060,960	28.16	$ 14.24	$ 29,610
Special Food Services	141,760	19.67	$ 15.27	$ 31,770
Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only)	135,780	4.47	$ 16.01	$ 33,300
Elementary and Secondary Schools	88,840	1.03	$ 16.17	$ 33,630
Gasoline Stations	37,190	3.84	$ 14.35	$ 29,840

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	3,060,960	28.16	$ 14.24	$ 29,610
Special Food Services	141,760	19.67	$ 15.27	$ 31,770
Book Retailers and News Dealers	5,570	7.95	$ 14.11	$ 29,340
Motion Picture and Video Industries	18,310	4.54	$ 13.60	$ 28,290
Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only)	135,780	4.47	$ 16.01	$ 33,300

Top paying industries for Fast Food and Counter Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Federal, State, and Local Government, excluding State and Local Government Schools and Hospitals and the U.S. Postal Service (OEWS Designation)	6,560	0.31	$ 20.80	$ 43,270
Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities	30	(7)	$ 19.48	$ 40,520
Furniture and Home Furnishings Retailers	1,440	0.33	$ 18.94	$ 39,390
Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers	530	0.06	$ 18.88	$ 39,270
Warehousing and Storage	90	(7)	$ 18.13	$ 37,700

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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	427,270	23.81	0.98	$ 17.63	$ 36,670
Texas	391,680	28.89	1.19	$ 12.48	$ 25,960
Florida	220,150	23.01	0.95	$ 13.53	$ 28,140
New York	199,530	21.24	0.88	$ 16.80	$ 34,930
Georgia	142,360	29.92	1.24	$ 12.47	$ 25,930

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	24,080	39.03	1.61	$ 14.90	$ 30,990
South Dakota	15,090	33.95	1.40	$ 14.00	$ 29,120
Arizona	102,570	32.77	1.35	$ 15.51	$ 32,260
Indiana	98,670	31.26	1.29	$ 13.16	$ 27,360
Arkansas	39,360	30.96	1.28	$ 12.91	$ 26,850

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	8,420	12.00	0.50	$ 18.77	$ 39,040
Washington	100,100	28.64	1.18	$ 17.94	$ 37,300
California	427,270	23.81	0.98	$ 17.63	$ 36,670
Massachusetts	86,500	23.74	0.98	$ 17.06	$ 35,490
New York	199,530	21.24	0.88	$ 16.80	$ 34,930

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	183,050	19.28	0.80	$ 16.85	$ 35,050
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	153,080	24.75	1.02	$ 17.51	$ 36,420
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	111,610	28.14	1.16	$ 13.09	$ 27,220
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	94,230	20.91	0.86	$ 15.77	$ 32,790
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	84,200	26.48	1.09	$ 12.27	$ 25,530
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	76,600	27.18	1.12	$ 13.00	$ 27,050
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	73,470	32.09	1.33	$ 15.72	$ 32,700
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	63,630	22.49	0.93	$ 14.32	$ 29,780
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	61,290	22.19	0.92	$ 17.21	$ 35,800
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	60,820	19.67	0.81	$ 16.29	$ 33,880

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	3,830	59.98	2.48	$ 15.24	$ 31,710
Lawrence, KS	2,640	53.01	2.19	$ 12.85	$ 26,730
Muskegon, MI	3,090	50.25	2.08	$ 13.02	$ 27,080
Hinesville, GA	990	48.93	2.02	$ 11.52	$ 23,950
Rome, GA	1,960	47.73	1.97	$ 11.99	$ 24,930
Warner Robins, GA	3,630	47.31	1.95	$ 11.50	$ 23,910
Bay City, MI	1,560	46.36	1.91	$ 12.90	$ 26,840
Lubbock, TX	6,840	45.39	1.87	$ 11.85	$ 24,650
Muncie, IN	2,010	45.17	1.87	$ 12.34	$ 25,670
Valdosta, GA	2,380	44.33	1.83	$ 11.23	$ 23,360