Career Atlas USA

Dishwashers

Median salary
$34,810
Average salary
$34,310
Employment
477,450
Projected growth
0.2% growth
Annual openings
76,800
Typical entry education
No formal educational credential

What Dishwashers Do

Clean dishes, kitchen, food preparation equipment, or utensils.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 20242034.

Related work experience
None
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training
Self-employed
0.6%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 2 of 5

Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed

Experience
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
Education
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Job training
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

  • English Languageimportance 3.2/5
  • Food Productionimportance 2.8/5
  • Education and Trainingimportance 2.5/5
  • Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 2.4/5
  • Public Safety and Securityimportance 2.3/5
  • Administration and Managementimportance 1.9/5
  • Communications and Mediaimportance 1.9/5
  • Transportationimportance 1.7/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.6/5
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.4/5
  • Spend Time Standing4.2/5
  • Health and Safety of Other Workers4.1/5
  • Contact With Others3.9/5
  • Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team3.8/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

  • Operation and Controlimportance 2.9/5
  • Coordinationimportance 2.8/5
  • Time Managementimportance 2.6/5
  • Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.5/5
  • Operations Monitoringimportance 2.5/5
  • Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.4/5
  • Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.3/5
  • Service Orientationimportance 2.1/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

  • Dependability
  • Attention to Detail
  • Cooperation
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Perseverance
  • Self-Control
  • Optimism

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

  • RealisticHigh
  • ConventionalMedium
  • SocialLow
  • EnterprisingLow
  • InvestigativeLow
  • ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where dishwashers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

  1. 1Kahului-Wailuku, HI3.54× national avg
  2. 2Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV2.75× national avg
  3. 3Naples-Marco Island, FL2.50× national avg
  4. 4Napa, CA2.45× national avg
  5. 5Barnstable Town, MA2.42× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

See the full career path from Dishwashers

Full salary data & percentiles →Best states for this career →Highest-paying states →