Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
SOC 35-3041 · 2024-2034
Serve food to individuals outside of a restaurant environment, such as in hotel rooms, hospital rooms, residential care facilities, or cars.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $39,998per year
- Projected openings
- 59,610
- Projected change
- +11%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
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
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Social Perceptiveness
- Reading Comprehension
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $46,118 | 4,250 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $45,457 | 3,670 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $45,430 | 3,880 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $44,841 | 420 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $40,263 | 280 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $39,224 | 750 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $38,504 | 510 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $38,422 | 210 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $38,196 | 3,530 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $38,006 | 15,270 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $38,001 | 460 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $37,908 | 340 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $37,744 | 5,210 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $37,743 | 850 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $37,641 | 5,240 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $37,075 | 1,290 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $37,013 | 4,190 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $37,013 | 740 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $36,869 | 340 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $36,849 | 390 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $36,705 | 1,400 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $36,365 | 210 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $36,365 | 730 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $36,293 | 190 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $36,242 | 870 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $36,201 | 210 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $36,077 | 440 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $35,625 | 190 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $36,010
- A quarter earn under
- $37,578
- Half earn under
- $39,998
- Three quarters earn under
- $48,088
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $59,008
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
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.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $36,922 | 148,130 | +10.2% |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $43,351 | 1,105,280 | +9.9% |
| Food Preparation Workers | $40,347 | 195,850 | +1% |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $36,994 | 469,390 | +2.8% |
| Cooks, Short Order | $44,017 | 43,610 | -2.3% |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $37,568 | 106,400 | +1.9% |