Waiters and Waitresses

SOC 35-3031 · 2024-2034

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

How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.

The job this trains for

Typical pay in California: $36,994per year
Projected openings: 469,390
Projected change: +2.8%
Usually needs: No formal educational credential

Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
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.

Service Orientation
Speaking
Active Listening
Social Perceptiveness
Coordination
Monitoring

Pay by region

Region	Typical pay in California	Projected openings
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties)	$41,775	26,770
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties)	$38,655	37,370
Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties)	$38,192	26,570
Napa MSA (Napa County)	$38,145	5,000
San Rafael MD (Marin County)	$38,095	3,830
Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County)	$37,342	8,540
Vallejo MSA (Solano County)	$37,209	3,990
Salinas MSA (Monterey County)	$36,396	7,710
Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County)	$36,273	3,990
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County)	$36,169	145,700
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties)	$36,067	31,320
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County)	$36,057	55,650
Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County)	$35,994	59,510
North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties)	$35,615	3,330
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties)	$35,584	3,260
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County)	$35,522	5,950
North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties)	$35,450	3,510
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties)	$35,327	48,060
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County)	$35,316	8,560
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County)	$35,121	11,070
Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County)	$34,720	5,360
Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County)	$34,699	590
Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties)	$34,648	1,230
Visalia MSA (Tulare County)	$34,607	3,230
Redding MSA (Shasta County)	$34,555	1,550
Chico MSA (Butte County)	$34,514	2,490
Merced MSA (Merced County)	$34,370	1,390
Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County)	$34,370	4,780
Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County)	$34,320	7,320
El Centro MSA (Imperial County)	$34,320	1,190
Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties)	$34,308	10,180

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%
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop	$37,568	106,400	+1.9%
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$43,351	1,105,280	+9.9%
Food Servers, Nonrestaurant	$39,998	59,610	+11%
Bartenders	$37,137	126,330	+8.8%
Cooks, Short Order	$44,017	43,610	-2.3%

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