First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Career, Salary and Skills
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $44,080 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 1,223,240. Wage data is published for 447 locations.
Occupation description
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in preparing and serving food.
O*NET code
35-1012.00
Job zone
2
Typical education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
Experience
None
National salary and employment
Median annual
$44,080
Hourly median
$21.19
Employment
1,223,240
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Management of Personnel Resources | 4.00 | 3.88 |
| Coordination | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Speaking | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Monitoring | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Active Listening | 3.75 | 3.00 |
| Instructing | 3.75 | 3.12 |
| Service Orientation | 3.62 | 3.62 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.25 | 3.62 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.12 | 3.75 |
| Negotiation | 3.12 | 3.12 |
Typical tasks
- Train workers in food preparation, and in service, sanitation, and safety procedures.
- Assign duties, responsibilities, and work stations to employees in accordance with work requirements.
- Present bills and accept payments.
- Perform various financial activities, such as cash handling, deposit preparation, and payroll.
- Supervise and participate in kitchen and dining area cleaning activities.
- Recommend measures for improving work procedures and worker performance to increase service quality and enhance job safety.
- Specify food portions and courses, production and time sequences, and workstation and equipment arrangements.
- Resolve customer complaints regarding food service.
Technology
- ADP Workforce Now
- CaterPro
- CBORD Foodservice Suite
- CBORD Group Menu Management System
- Compeat Restaurant Accounting Systems
- Compris Advanced Manager's Workstation
- Compris software
- CostGuard
- Delphi Technology
- Evernote
- IBM Domino
- Intuit QuickBooks Point of Sale
- MICROS Systems HSI Profits Series
- Microsoft Dynamics
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in TXMedian $36,480 · Employment 137,930
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in CAMedian $46,980 · Employment 130,190
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in FLMedian $44,470 · Employment 91,500
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in NYMedian $47,190 · Employment 65,580
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in New York, NYMedian $48,690 · Employment 61,060
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in OHMedian $37,340 · Employment 51,990
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in GAMedian $38,600 · Employment 48,420
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in Los Angeles, CAMedian $46,970 · Employment 41,640
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in ILMedian $39,470 · Employment 41,030
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in Dallas, TXMedian $37,730 · Employment 39,780
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in NCMedian $45,010 · Employment 39,750
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Salary in PAMedian $43,050 · Employment 35,560
Related careers
- Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender HelpersNational median $33,980
- Fast Food and Counter WorkersNational median $31,200
- First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping WorkersNational median $58,430
- Food Preparation WorkersNational median $35,320
- General and Operations ManagersNational median $105,770
- First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction WorkersNational median $79,920
- Chefs and Head CooksNational median $62,470
- Food Service ManagersNational median $69,390
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.