Food Servers build service orientation, social perceptiveness and time management skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers (89%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | 89% | $33,980 | −4% | None |
| 2 | Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria | 86% | $37,450 | +6% | None |
| 3 | Food Preparation Workers | 85% | $35,320 | 0% | None |
| 4 | Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 83% | $35,510 | 0% | None |
| 5 | Cooks, Short Order | 80% | $35,880 | +1% | None |
| 6 | Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | 80% | $31,200 | −12% | None |
| 7 | Cooks, Fast Food | 80% | $30,890 | −13% | None |
| 8 | Cooks, Restaurant | 80% | $37,390 | +6% | None |
| 9 | Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants | 80% | $36,300 | +3% | None |
| 10 | Baggage Porters and Bellhops | 77% | $37,080 | +5% | None |
Compared with Food Servers, Nonrestaurant, median $35,360. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as food servers (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
89% skill match · $33,980 · −4% pay
86% skill match · $37,450 · +6% pay
Quality Control Analysis · Operations Monitoring · Operation and Control
85% skill match · $35,320 · 0% pay
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers (89% skill match, median $33,980), Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria (86% skill match, median $37,450) and Food Preparation Workers (85% skill match, median $35,320), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 12 pay more than food servers at the median. The biggest increases: Food Service Managers (+96%, $69,390), Flight Attendants (+80%, $63,580) and Butchers and Meat Cutters (+14%, $40,140).
25 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.