Host Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 11,859 US job postings by 1,497 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for hosts: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 11,859 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for hosts in US job postings is $16.58 an hour (1,842 postings from 291 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $14.01 to $18.46 an hour.
- The skills that most set host postings apart are friendly, multitask, positive attitude.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 1 year of experience.
Host job postings in the US, October 2026
- $16.58/hr
- Median advertised pay (1,842 postings)
- $14.01–$18.46
- Middle 50% of postings
- 11,859
- US job postings from 1,497 employers
- 1 year
- Median experience asked
How much does a host make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $16.58 an hour, from 1,842 US job postings by 291 employers that state pay. That is about $34,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 1,842 US host job postings: median $34,000 a year ($16.58 an hour), middle half $29,000 to $38,000.
- Median: $34,000 ($16.58/hr)
- 25th percentile: $29,000
- 75th percentile: $38,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $10K–$20K | 2.7% |
| $20K–$30K | 24.3% |
| $30K–$40K | 55.3% |
| $40K–$50K | 13.3% |
| $50K–$60K | 2.1% |
| $60K–$70K | 0.8% |
| $70K–$80K | 0.9% |
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 | $16.58 | $14.01–$18.46 | 911 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $34,000 | $29K–$38K | 1,842 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop (35-9031) at $31,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a host?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying host jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Host (general) | $16.50/hr | 1,785 | 268 |
Host 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 | $18.50/hr | $17.02–$19.54 | 335 | 7.2% |
| New York | $17.62/hr | $15.78–$19.59 | 122 | 2.9% |
| Illinois | $16.50/hr | $15.24–$16.91 | 109 | 2.9% |
| Texas | $14.00/hr | $12.75–$17.00 | 117 | 11.5% |
Skills employers ask for in host job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 30% |
| Customer service | 15% |
| Organizational skills | 13% |
| Attention to detail | 12% |
| Friendly | 12% |
| Interpersonal skills | 12% |
| Positive attitude | 11% |
| Multitask | 9% |
| Teamwork | 8% |
| Team player | 8% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set hosts apart
- Friendly8.9× as often as in all postings · 12%
- Multitask4.4× as often as in all postings · 9%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a host job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a host do?
Employers post these jobs as Host/Hostess, Restaurant Host, Cashier / Host / Attendant, Hostess, Host/Cashier and other titles.
The closest official occupation is Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop (35-9031.00). Its most important tasks:
- Provide guests with menus.
- Greet guests and seat them at tables or in waiting areas.
- Maintain contact with kitchen staff, management, serving staff, and customers to ensure that dining details are handled properly and customers' concerns are addressed.
- Assign patrons to tables suitable for their needs and according to rotation so that servers receive an appropriate number of seatings.
- Speak with patrons to ensure satisfaction with food and service, to respond to complaints, or to make conversation.
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 host?
Among 366 postings that state a minimum, the median is 1 year. 1% say 0 years and 75% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 366 US host job postings: median 1 year, and 75% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 11% |
| 1 yr | 64% |
| 2 yrs | 16% |
| 3-4 yrs | 3% |
| 5-7 yrs | 2% |
| 8-9 yrs | 4% |
| 10+ yrs | 0% |
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 56%, Full-time 44% of the 335 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a host: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Host | 548 (36.6%) |
| Host/Hostess | 498 (33.3%) |
| Restaurant Host | 95 (6.3%) |
| Cashier / Host / Attendant | 74 (4.9%) |
| Hostess | 63 (4.2%) |
| Host/Cashier | 42 (2.8%) |
| Host / Hostess | 38 (2.5%) |
| Restaurant Host/Hostess | 29 (1.9%) |
| Host/To-Go | 29 (1.9%) |
| Greeter | 25 (1.7%) |
| Lead Host | 22 (1.5%) |
| Host Person | 18 (1.2%) |
| Host/ess | 13 (0.9%) |
| Hostess/Host | 13 (0.9%) |
| WC-Host/Door | 11 (0.7%) |
| Host Hostess | 11 (0.7%) |
| SV-Host/Door | 11 (0.7%) |
| Maitre D | 10 (0.7%) |
| Host/ Hostess | 9 (0.6%) |
| Host/Greeter | 9 (0.6%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Host 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostess | 102 | 63 | – | – | – |
| Restaurant Host | 238 | 95 | – | – | – |
Host vs Hostess
| Host | Hostess | |
|---|---|---|
| Open US postings | 5,952 | 102 |
| Employers | 548 | 63 |
| Median advertised pay | $16.58/hr | – |
| Median experience asked | – | – |
| Skills that stand out | positive | – |
Host compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host | $16.58/hr | 1 year | 11,859 | – |
| Server | $16.90/hr | 1 year | 28,843 | 16 |
| Bartender | $16.85/hr | 1 year | 12,786 | 21 |
| Recreation Attendant | $17.13/hr | – | 2,760 | 18 |
| Front Desk Agent | $18.50/hr | 1 year | 6,245 | 15 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Server | 16 | $16.90/hr |
| Bartender | 21 | $16.85/hr |
| Recreation Attendant | 18 | $17.13/hr |
| Front Desk Agent | 15 | $18.50/hr |
| Cashier | 17 | $16.50/hr |
| Dishwasher | 15 | $17.00/hr |
Applying for host jobs?
- Host 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 host jobs: search open postings
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; 20 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.