Career Atlas USA

Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

Median salary
$35,360
Average salary
$36,140
Employment
293,900
Projected growth
3% growth
Annual openings
48,000
Typical entry education
No formal educational credential

What Food Servers, Nonrestaurant Do

Serve food to individuals outside of a restaurant environment, such as in hotel rooms, hospital rooms, residential care facilities, or cars.

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
0.1%

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.

  • Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.6/5
  • English Languageimportance 3.6/5
  • Food Productionimportance 3.0/5
  • Administration and Managementimportance 3.0/5
  • Education and Trainingimportance 2.9/5
  • Public Safety and Securityimportance 2.9/5
  • Mathematicsimportance 2.8/5
  • Psychologyimportance 2.5/5

Work Environment

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

  • Spend Time Standing4.7/5
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.7/5
  • Spend Time Walking or Running4.6/5
  • Time Pressure4.4/5
  • Physical Proximity4.4/5
  • Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.4/5

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.

  • Service Orientationimportance 3.0/5
  • Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.9/5
  • Coordinationimportance 2.9/5
  • Time Managementimportance 2.9/5
  • Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.8/5
  • Management of Personnel Resourcesimportance 2.3/5
  • Persuasionimportance 2.1/5
  • Negotiationimportance 2.1/5

Software & Technologies

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

Other Software Used

  • CBORD Nutrition Service Suite
  • Capital Codeworks MenuMax
  • Picis CareSuite

Work Style

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

  • Dependability
  • Cooperation
  • Attention to Detail
  • Social Orientation
  • Empathy
  • Optimism
  • Sincerity

Career Interests

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

  • RealisticMedium
  • SocialMedium
  • ConventionalMedium
  • EnterprisingLow
  • ArtisticLow
  • InvestigativeLow

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 food servers, nonrestaurant make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

  1. 1Hot Springs, AR3.11× national avg
  2. 2Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC3.11× national avg
  3. 3Kankakee, IL2.95× national avg
  4. 4Duluth, MN-WI2.84× national avg
  5. 5Battle Creek, MI2.65× 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 Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

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