Fast Food and Counter Workers Career, Salary and Skills
Fast Food and Counter Workers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $31,200 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 3,854,050. Wage data is published for 447 locations.
Occupation description
Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table. May take payment. May prepare food and beverages.
O*NET code
35-3023.00
Job zone
2
Typical education
Less than a High School Diploma
Experience
None
National salary and employment
Median annual
$31,200
Hourly median
$15.00
Employment
3,854,050
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Service Orientation | 3.00 | 2.75 |
| Active Listening | 3.00 | 2.25 |
| Coordination | 3.00 | 2.75 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.00 | 2.00 |
| Monitoring | 2.88 | 2.25 |
| Speaking | 2.62 | 2.00 |
| Critical Thinking | 2.50 | 2.50 |
| Reading Comprehension | 2.38 | 2.12 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 2.38 | 1.88 |
| Time Management | 2.38 | 1.88 |
Typical tasks
- Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary.
- Serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food.
- Request and record customer orders, and compute bills, using cash registers, multi-counting machines, or pencil and paper.
- Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints.
- Serve food, beverages, or desserts to customers in such settings as take-out counters of restaurants or lunchrooms, business or industrial establishments, hotel rooms, and cars.
- Monitor and order supplies or food items, and restock as necessary to maintain inventory.
- Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary.
- Balance receipts and payments in cash registers.
Technology
- Aldelo Systems Aldelo for Restaurants Pro
- Compris software
- Foodman Home-Delivery
- Intuit QuickBooks Point of Sale
- Menu and nutrition database software
- MICROS Systems HSI Profits Series
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Windows
- NCR Advanced Checkout Solution
- NCR NeighborhoodPOS
- Plexis Software Plexis POS
- Quizlet
Fast Food and Counter Workers salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in TXMedian $27,740 · Employment 460,530
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in CAMedian $42,280 · Employment 449,840
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in FLMedian $29,080 · Employment 235,400
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in NYMedian $35,250 · Employment 168,620
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in New York, NYMedian $35,420 · Employment 166,040
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in OHMedian $28,430 · Employment 163,560
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in Los Angeles, CAMedian $42,110 · Employment 160,270
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in GAMedian $26,920 · Employment 145,030
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in PAMedian $28,570 · Employment 142,220
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in Dallas, TXMedian $28,070 · Employment 128,380
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in ILMedian $33,910 · Employment 127,590
- Fast Food and Counter Workers Salary in Houston, TXMedian $27,570 · Employment 105,810
Related careers
- Food BatchmakersNational median $42,290
- CashiersNational median $32,880
- Cooks, Private HouseholdNational median $47,940
- Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee ShopNational median $31,200
- Food Service ManagersNational median $69,390
- Butchers and Meat CuttersNational median $40,140
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving WorkersNational median $44,080
- Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaNational median $37,450
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.