Food Preparation Workers vs Food Servers, Nonrestaurant: Similar Pay, -3% vs 4.5% Growth

Food Preparation Workers vs Food Servers, Nonrestaurant: what changes?

Consider Food Preparation Workers if you want to perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea. Consider Food Servers, Nonrestaurant if you would rather serve food to individuals outside of a restaurant environment, such as in hotel rooms, hospital rooms, residential care facilities, or cars. Both list no formal educational credential; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Food Preparation Workers and Food Servers, Nonrestaurant. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Food Preparation Workers

National median pay (2025): $35,320
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 135,700

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Food Preparation Workers brief

Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

National median pay (2025): $35,360
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Place food servings on plates or trays according to orders or instructions.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 48,800

Know before you choose

The job can require working in cramped or physically awkward positions for meaningful stretches of time.

See the full Food Servers, Nonrestaurant brief

How the national numbers differ

Food Servers, Nonrestaurant has the edge on projected growth

Food Servers, Nonrestaurant is at 4.5% projected growth, compared with -3% projected growth for Food Preparation Workers.

Food Preparation Workers has the edge on annual openings

Food Preparation Workers is at 135,700 annual openings, compared with 48,800 annual openings for Food Servers, Nonrestaurant.

National pay benchmarks are very similar.

Compare actual offers, expected paid hours, schedule, and benefits before treating either career as the higher-paying option.

46.3/ 100

Food Preparation Workers

56.1/ 100

Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Food Preparation Workers vs Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

Dimension	Food Preparation Workers	Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
Median pay (2025)	$35,320	$35,360
Pay percentile	2.8 percentile	3 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-3%	4.5%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	135,700	48,800
2025 employment	908,500	296,300
How you qualify	No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Food Preparation Workers brief Read Food Servers, Nonrestaurant brief

Food Preparation Workers vs Food Servers, Nonrestaurant: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Food Preparation Workers

Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

How the national numbers differ

Food Servers, Nonrestaurant has the edge on projected growth

Food Preparation Workers has the edge on annual openings

National pay benchmarks are very similar.

Food Preparation Workers vs Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

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