All About Food Servers
Position Description Serve food to individuals outside of a restaurant environment, such as in hotel rooms, hospital rooms, residential care facilities, or cars.
Daily Life Of a Food Server
- Record amounts and types of special food items served to customers.
- Monitor food preparation or serving techniques to ensure that proper procedures are followed.
- Take food orders and relay orders to kitchens or serving counters so they can be filled.
- Carry food, silverware, or linen on trays or use carts to carry trays.
- Remove trays and stack dishes for return to kitchen after meals are finished.
- Examine trays to ensure that they contain required items.
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Food Server Required Skills
Below is a list of the skills most Food Servers say are important on the job.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Related Job Titles
- Hot Dog Vendor
- Room Service Server
- Dietary Assistant
- Hospital Tray Service Worker
- Food Service Assistant
What Kind of Food Server Job Opportunities Are There?
There were about 263,800 jobs for Food Server in 2016 (in the United States). New jobs are being produced at a rate of 10.2% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 26,900 new jobs for Food Server by 2026. The BLS estimates 43,100 yearly job openings in this field.

The states with the most job growth for Food Server are Utah, Arizona, and Idaho. Watch out if you plan on working in Wyoming, District of Columbia, or Connecticut. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Do Food Servers Make A Lot Of Money?
The typical yearly salary for Food Servers is somewhere between $18,030 and $35,150.

Food Servers who work in Hawaii, New York, or District of Columbia, make the highest salaries.
Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Food Servers in different U.S. states.
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
Alabama | $21,550 |
Alaska | $29,780 |
Arizona | $27,320 |
Arkansas | $20,560 |
California | $30,350 |
Colorado | $26,730 |
Connecticut | $28,690 |
Delaware | $24,700 |
District of Columbia | $32,740 |
Florida | $22,570 |
Georgia | $22,020 |
Hawaii | $38,480 |
Idaho | $23,740 |
Illinois | $24,450 |
Indiana | $23,050 |
Iowa | $23,870 |
Kansas | $20,390 |
Kentucky | $22,370 |
Louisiana | $20,860 |
Maine | $24,230 |
Maryland | $24,730 |
Massachusetts | $29,210 |
Michigan | $25,220 |
Minnesota | $27,660 |
Mississippi | $19,330 |
Missouri | $22,120 |
Montana | $22,340 |
Nebraska | $23,330 |
Nevada | $25,570 |
New Hampshire | $23,530 |
New Jersey | $25,190 |
New Mexico | $20,530 |
New York | $32,500 |
North Carolina | $21,180 |
North Dakota | $27,500 |
Ohio | $22,370 |
Oklahoma | $21,450 |
Oregon | $27,380 |
Pennsylvania | $23,250 |
Rhode Island | $25,880 |
South Carolina | $21,750 |
South Dakota | $26,930 |
Tennessee | $21,830 |
Texas | $21,170 |
Utah | $24,950 |
Vermont | $30,970 |
Virginia | $22,210 |
Washington | $27,040 |
West Virginia | $22,190 |
Wisconsin | $22,160 |
Wyoming | $22,410 |
What Tools do Food Servers Use?
Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Food Servers may use on a daily basis:
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Windows
- Point of sale POS software
- CBORD Nutrition Service Suite
How to Become a Food Server
What kind of Food Server requirements are there?

What work experience do I need to become a Food Server?

Where Food Servers Work

The table below shows the approximate number of Food Servers employed by various industries.

Similar Careers
Those who work as a Food Server sometimes switch careers to one of these choices:
References:
More about our data sources and methodologies.
Featured Schools
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