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Food Service35-3031.00Specialization

Waiters and Waitresses

Take orders and serve food and beverages to patrons at tables in dining establishment.

$31,940
Median Pay
Less than 6 months
Training
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Food Preparation Workers

Career Overview Video

AI Impact Assessment

AI Resilience Score

Score 3/6: low AI task exposure, declining job demand means AI will assist but humans remain essential

🟡AI-Augmented

How we calculated this:

AI Exposure
Low+2

18% of tasks can be accelerated by AI

Job Growth
Declining+0

-1% projected (2024-2034)

Human Advantage
Moderate+1

EPOCH score: 12/25

Total Score3/6
Methodology: v2.0 - GPTs are GPTs / BLS / EPOCH Additive ScoringUpdated: 2026-01-09
View full methodology →

Key Responsibilities

  • Collect payments from customers.
  • Check patrons' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.
  • Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
  • Check with customers to ensure that they are enjoying their meals, and take action to correct any problems.
  • Take orders from patrons for food or beverages.
  • Prepare checks that itemize and total meal costs and sales taxes.
  • Remove dishes and glasses from tables or counters, and take them to kitchen for cleaning.
  • Clean tables or counters after patrons have finished dining.
  • Serve food or beverages to patrons, and prepare or serve specialty dishes at tables as required.
  • Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming carpet, tidying up server station, taking out trash, or checking and cleaning bathroom.

Education & Training

Typical Entry Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Time to Job Ready

0-1 years

Based on Job Zone 2. For formal education duration only, see education_duration.

Technology Skills

POS systemsReservation softwareTable managementPayment processing

Key Abilities

Oral ComprehensionOral ExpressionSpeech RecognitionSpeech ClarityTime SharingTrunk StrengthStaminaProblem SensitivityDeductive ReasoningInformation Ordering

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Find jobs and training programs for waiters and waitresses- Median salary: $32K/year

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Compensation Details

$18,600
10th Percentile
$31,940
Median
$60,100
90th Percentile

Based on 2,237,850 employed workers

Also Known As

Banquet ServerBanquet WaiterBanquet WaitressBar WaiterBar WaitressBuffet WaiterBuffet WaitressBusserCarhopClub Waiter

Data from O*NET 30.1 and BLS Occupational Employment Statistics

O*NET Code: 35-3031.00