Restaurants & Food Services

Industry Group

Add Comparison
    Workforce Population
    8.97M
    2024
    Average Employee Age
    31.8
    2024
    Estimated Job Growth
    3.82%
    10-Year Projection
    Average Salary
    $28,035
    2024
    Average Male Salary
    $32,617
    2024
    Average Female Salary
    $23,964
    2024

    About

    The top three occupations in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group are waiters & waitresses, cooks, and food service managers. On average, full-time employees in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group work 42.9 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $42,891. Part-time employees in the same industry work 21.4 hours and earn an average annual salary of $13,833.

    The workforce of Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group in 2024 was 8,971,805 people, with 53% woman, and 47% men.

    In 2024, 53.3% of the workforce in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group was White (4,781,081 people), of which 55.2% were women and 44.8% men.

    Photo by willowbrookhotels
    Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food ServicesAccommodation & Food Services

    Employment & Salaries

    A snapshot of workforce, wages, and opportunities in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group.

    The workforce in Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group was 8,971,805 people and is concentrated in California (1,086,586 workers). The average annual salary was $28,035, being $41,843 less than the national average salary, which was $69,878.

    Monthly Employment

    Showing data for the Leisure and Hospitality industry sector.
    Start Year
    Y-Axis
    6.53%
    Year-over-year growth
    Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

    As of February 2023, there are 15.9M people employed in the Leisure and Hospitality industry. This represents a 6.53% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

    This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Leisure and Hospitality over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

    View Data
    Save Image

    Employment by Location

    The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2024 were California (1.09M), Texas (857k), and Florida (659k).

    This map shows the states in the United States shaded by workforce for Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Yearly Wage Ranking

    In 2024, Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group had an average annual wage of $28,035, $41,843 less than the average national salary of $69,878.

    The graph shows the position of Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group in the ranking of industries by average annual wage.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Wage Distribution

    0.504
    WAGE GINI

    Restaurants & Food Services has a wage GINI of 0.504, which is more than than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Restaurants & Food Services (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

    The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group workers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Occupations

    A review of jobs and wages in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group.

    Waiters & waitresses are the most common position with 1,725,854 workers, but the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group employs a relatively high number of Cooks and Food service managers.

    The highest average salary in Restaurants & Food Services goes to Other Physical Scientists.

    Occupations Distribution

    The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group according to occupations. In 2024, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were waiters & waitresses (1,725,854 people), cooks (1,532,749 people), and food service managers (844,786 people)

    View Data
    Save Image

    Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

    $32,617
    AVERAGE MALE SALARY
    ±$536
    $23,964
    AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY
    ±$362

    On average, Male workers in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group make 1.36 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Business

    Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries.

    The industrial flow illustrates the intermediate inputs and the use of outputs of the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group.

    The Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry.

    California and Texas stand out as the states with the largest number of establishments in the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group.

    Industrial Flow

    The closest comparable data for Restaurants & Food Services is from Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.

    Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group is Educational services, health care, and social assistance.

    In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Intermediate Inputs

    The closest comparable data for Restaurants & Food Services is from Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.
    HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY
    1. Professional and business services
    2. Manufacturing
    3. Finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing

    The Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Use of Output by Other Industries

    The closest comparable data for Restaurants & Food Services is from Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.
    LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY
    1. Educational services, health care, and social assistance
    2. Professional and business services
    3. Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services

    The Educational services, health care, and social assistance Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Establishments

    States with more establishments in 2022
    1. California
      87,439
    2. Texas
      58,223
    3. New York
      51,473

    The charts shows the distribution of establishments in the Restaurants & Food Services industry by states and the number of establishments according to size.

    View Data
    Save Image
    View Data
    Save Image

    Diversity

    Demographic information on the Restaurants & Food Services Industry Group in the US.

    Of the total workforce, 53% corresponds to women and 47% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $32,617 and $23,964.

    77.7% of workers have a high school or equivalent, some college or secondary education.

    Gender and Age

    4,750,608
    Women
    53%
    4,221,197
    Men
    47%

    The workforce of Restaurants & Food Services industry in 2024 was 8,971,805 people, with 53% woman, and 47% men.

    The visualization shows the distribution of the workforce by gender and age in Restaurants & Food Services industry.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Races

    In 2024, 53.3% of the workforce in the Restaurants & Food Services industry was White (4,781,081 people), of which 55.2% were women and 44.8% men.

    Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Two or More Races and Black.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Educational Levels

    The main educational levels achieved by the Restaurants & Food Services workers in 2024 were high school or equivalent (2,987,487 people), some college (2,242,263 people), and secondary education (1,744,471 people).

    The chart shows the Restaurants & Food Services workforce by gender and educational level.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Projections

    Growth projections of the Food Services and Drinking Places industry, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow 3.82% in the next ten years. The Food Services and Drinking Places industry has a lower projected workforce growth at 3.82%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (23.7%) is lower than the projected national growth in output (23.7%).

    Job Growth

    For growth projections, the closest comparable industry reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is Food Services and Drinking Places.
    3.82%
    Estimated Job Growth
    10-year Projection
    3.82%
    National Growth
    10-year Projection

    This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Food Services and Drinking Places. This industry is expected to grow approximately the same than 3.82%, the average rate of national job growth.

    View Data
    Save Image

    Output Growth

    For growth projections, the closest comparable industry reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is Food Services and Drinking Places.
    23.7%
    Estimate Growth
    10-year Projection

    This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in output of the Food Services and Drinking Places industry.

    View Data
    Save Image