Fast Food and Counter Workers
SOC 35-3023 · 2024-2034
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.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
The job this trains for
- Typical pay in California
- $43,351per year
- Projected openings
- 1,105,280
- Projected change
- +9.9%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth · Numerous Job Openings
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
- Coordination
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Speaking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $43,873 | 53,590 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $42,824 | 51,810 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $41,620 | 6,620 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $41,365 | 64,090 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $39,358 | 3,910 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $39,173 | 12,780 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $38,751 | 11,840 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $38,720 | 64,240 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $38,504 | 11,560 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $38,360 | 7,920 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $38,011 | 15,720 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $37,949 | 8,520 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $37,887 | 4,610 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $37,826 | 6,900 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $37,826 | 4,250 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $37,764 | 19,030 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $37,661 | 24,560 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $37,641 | 4,420 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $37,524 | 297,060 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $37,507 | 7,130 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $37,497 | 4,130 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $37,476 | 25,230 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $37,476 | 6,550 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $37,476 | 18,200 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $37,458 | 119,010 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $37,425 | 13,090 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $37,281 | 134,220 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $36,900 | 4,600 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $36,880 | 107,300 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $36,808 | 6,200 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $36,653 | 33,210 |
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| The job this trains for | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $36,922 | 148,130 | +10.2% |
| Food Preparation Workers | $40,347 | 195,850 | +1% |
| Food Servers, Nonrestaurant | $39,998 | 59,610 | +11% |
| Cooks, Short Order | $44,017 | 43,610 | -2.3% |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $36,994 | 469,390 | +2.8% |
| Cooks, Restaurant | $46,017 | 271,050 | +18.5% |
Leads to — 4
Cert. of Accomplishment Culinary Arts: Basic Food Service
Contra Costa College · San Pablo · $1,159
Beverage Management Certificate of Achievement
Lemoore College · Lemoore · $2,282
Bartending & Barista Training
Charity Cultural Services Center · San Francisco · $4,060
Barista/Latte Artist/Cook Registered Apprenticeship Program
Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) JATC · Los Angeles · $6,500