Waiters and waitresses build service orientation, people-reading and coordination skills that hotels, stores and airlines value. Of the 25 careers below, Hosts and Hostesses match best at 90%, while Food Service Managers (77%) pay a BLS May 2025 median of $69,390.
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 | Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | 90% | $31,200 | −11% | None |
| 2 | Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | 87% | $33,980 | −4% | None |
| 3 | Cashiers | 81% | $32,880 | −7% | None |
| 4 | Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | 80% | $32,910 | −7% | None |
| 5 | Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks | 79% | $35,070 | 0% | None |
| 6 | Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants | 78% | $36,300 | +3% | None |
| 7 | Food Service Managers | 77% | $69,390 | +97% | None |
| 8 | Gambling Dealers | 76% | $34,320 | −3% | None |
| 9 | Stockers and Order Fillers | 76% | $37,330 | +6% | None |
| 10 | Retail Salespersons | 76% | $35,410 | +1% | None |
Compared with Waiters and Waitresses, median $35,230. 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 waiters and waitresses (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.
Serving tables means reading guests quickly, juggling many orders and working closely with the kitchen during a rush. O*NET rates service orientation at 3.88 out of 5 for servers, so host, front desk and attendant roles rank high. Many close matches pay about the same, so the real gains come from management and travel jobs. Flight attendants and food service managers use the same guest skills with more responsibility. The gaps are negotiation, instructing and managing people.
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.
90% skill match · $31,200 · −11% pay
Negotiation · Instructing
87% skill match · $33,980 · −4% pay
Management of Financial Resources · Operation and Control · Management of Personnel Resources
81% skill match · $32,880 · −7% pay
Instructing · Negotiation
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop (90%), Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers (87%) and Cashiers (81%), based on O*NET 31.0. Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks (79%) is a good move out of restaurants.
14 of the 25 matches pay more than the $35,230 median for waiters and waitresses. Food Service Managers earn $69,390 (+97%), First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers earn $63,820 (+81%) and Flight Attendants earn $63,580 (+80%), according to BLS May 2025 data.
Yes. All 25 matches usually need no more education than a server job, based on O*NET Job Zones. Most train on the job: the closest match usually takes up to 1 month to learn, and 42% of its workers have less than a high school diploma.
In food service, the nearest roles are Bartenders (90% match), Fast Food and Counter Workers (89%), Food Servers, Nonrestaurant (89%) and Baristas (82%). Bartending is a natural next step for servers who want to stay in restaurants and earn more per shift.