Food Service Worker Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 20,301 US job postings by 5,163 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for food service workers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 20,301 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for food service workers in US job postings is $17.00 an hour (5,264 postings from 1,018 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $15.50 to $19.09 an hour.
- Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $18.50 an hour (577 postings).
- The skills that most set food service worker postings apart are food preparation, customer service, food handling.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 1 year of experience.
Food Service Worker job postings in the US, October 2026
- $17.00/hr
- Median advertised pay (5,264 postings)
- $15.50–$19.09
- Middle 50% of postings
- $18.50/hr
- Starting pay (postings asking up to 1 year)
- 20,301
- US job postings from 5,163 employers
How much does a food service worker make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $17.00 an hour, from 5,264 US job postings by 1,018 employers that state pay. That is about $35,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 5,264 US food service worker job postings: median $35,000 a year ($17.00 an hour), middle half $32,000 to $40,000.
- Median: $35,000 ($17.00/hr)
- 25th percentile: $32,000
- 75th percentile: $40,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $10K–$20K | 0.6% |
| $20K–$30K | 11.2% |
| $30K–$40K | 62.2% |
| $40K–$50K | 20.1% |
| $50K–$60K | 4.4% |
| $60K–$70K | 0.6% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $17.00 | $15.50–$19.09 | 2,373 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $35,000 | $32K–$40K | 5,264 |
What is the starting salary for a food service worker?
Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $18.50 an hour (577 postings).
| Experience asked | Median advertised pay | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 years | $18.50/hr | 577 |
| 2-4 years | withheld | 142 |
| 5+ years | withheld | 26 |
Highest-paying food service worker jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catering Assistant | $19.00/hr | 328 | 23 |
| Food Service Assistant | $18.00/hr | 1,147 | 189 |
| Food Service Worker (general) | $18.00/hr | 2,007 | 148 |
| Dietary Aide | $16.50/hr | 692 | 284 |
| Cafeteria Worker | $15.94/hr | 323 | 191 |
Food service worker pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $19.94/hr | $17.75–$23.00 | 253 | 5.8% |
| Minnesota | $18.74/hr | $17.00–$19.70 | 220 | 3.5% |
| Massachusetts | $18.25/hr | $17.00–$20.11 | 286 | 3.6% |
| New York | $18.00/hr | $17.00–$21.15 | 544 | 5.8% |
| Wisconsin | $17.65/hr | $16.50–$18.50 | 311 | 4.4% |
| Connecticut | $17.16/hr | $16.94–$18.31 | 114 | 1.6% |
| New Jersey | $17.00/hr | $16.23–$19.00 | 150 | 2.6% |
| Illinois | $16.50/hr | $15.47–$18.00 | 220 | 4.6% |
| Virginia | $16.50/hr | $15.30–$18.50 | 139 | 2.6% |
| Ohio | $16.00/hr | $14.00–$17.56 | 197 | 4.8% |
| Florida | $16.00/hr | $15.00–$17.50 | 119 | 3.9% |
| North Carolina | $16.00/hr | $15.00–$17.38 | 149 | 3.6% |
| Michigan | $15.82/hr | $15.00–$17.00 | 103 | 2.3% |
| Pennsylvania | $15.50/hr | $14.59–$17.00 | 237 | 5.5% |
| Texas | $15.00/hr | $13.00–$16.31 | 240 | 7.1% |
Skills employers ask for in food service worker job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Customer service | 21% |
| Communication | 20% |
| Attention to detail | 8% |
| Interpersonal skills | 8% |
| Food preparation | 7% |
| Teamwork | 6% |
| Positive attitude | 6% |
| Dependable | 6% |
| Organizational skills | 5% |
| Work independently | 5% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set food service workers apart
- Food preparation24.3× as often as in all postings · 7%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a food service worker job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a food service worker do?
Employers post these jobs as Dietary Aide, Food Service, Breakfast Attendant, Food Service Assistant, Cafeteria Worker and other titles. The largest specializations are Dietary Aide (20%), Food Service Assistant (24%), Cafeteria Worker (7%), Kitchen Assistant (5%), Nutrition Assistant (5%), Breakfast Attendant (4%).
The closest official occupation is Food Preparation Workers (35-2021.00). Its most important tasks:
- Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.
- Assist cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks as needed, and provide cooks with needed items.
- Take and record temperature of food and food storage areas, such as refrigerators and freezers.
- Carry food supplies, equipment, and utensils to and from storage and work areas.
- Remove trash and clean kitchen garbage containers.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a food service worker?
Among 1,338 postings that state a minimum, the median is 1 year. 4% say 0 years and 74% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,338 US food service worker job postings: median 1 year, and 74% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 15% |
| 1 yr | 59% |
| 2 yrs | 17% |
| 3-4 yrs | 4% |
| 5-7 yrs | 4% |
| 8-9 yrs | under 1% |
| 10+ yrs | under 1% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Part-time 61%, Full-time 39% of the 1,848 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a food service worker: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Dietary Aide | 1,736 (33.6%) |
| Food Service Worker | 460 (8.9%) |
| Food Service | 344 (6.7%) |
| Breakfast Attendant | 184 (3.6%) |
| Food Service Assistant | 142 (2.8%) |
| Cafeteria Worker | 128 (2.5%) |
| Kitchen Assistant | 115 (2.2%) |
| Substitute Food Service Worker | 107 (2.1%) |
| Food Service Associate | 97 (1.9%) |
| Nutrition Assistant | 81 (1.6%) |
| Substitute Food Service | 74 (1.4%) |
| Food Service Substitute | 61 (1.2%) |
| Dietary Assistant | 54 (1.1%) |
| Nutrition Services Assistant | 52 (1.0%) |
| Substitute Cafeteria Worker | 48 (0.9%) |
| Dietary Aid | 48 (0.9%) |
| Food Service Aide | 46 (0.9%) |
| Cafeteria Assistant | 46 (0.9%) |
| Culinary Aide | 44 (0.9%) |
| Food Service Worker I | 42 (0.8%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Food service worker job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dietary Aide | 3,118 | 1,736 | $16.20/hr | – | communication, customer service, compassionate |
Food Service Worker compared with similar careers
Similar careers
Applying for food service worker jobs?
- Food service worker resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find food service worker jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Dietary Aide make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.