Fast Food and Counter Workers
Hospitality and TourismO*NET 35-3023.00United States
Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table.
- Median annual earnings
- $31,164
- Projected change
- +9.3%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 3.88M jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
80.2% of the workforce
Growing to 4.24M by 2035
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ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What fast food and counter workers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- 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.
- Balance receipts and payments in cash registers.
- 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.
- Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary.
- Monitor and order supplies or food items, and restock as necessary to maintain inventory.
- Brew coffee and tea, and fill containers with requested beverages.
- Clean and organize eating, service, and kitchen areas.
- Prepare daily food items, and cook simple foods and beverages, such as sandwiches, salads, soups, pizza, or coffee, using proper safety precautions and sanitary measures.
- Prepare and serve cold drinks, frozen milk drinks, or desserts, using drink-dispensing, milkshake, or frozen-custard machines.
- Wrap menu items such as sandwiches, hot entrees, and desserts for serving or for takeout.
- Set up dining areas for meals, and clear them following meals.
- Scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment.
- Collect and return dirty dishes to the kitchen for washing.
- Deliver orders to kitchens, and pick up and serve food when it is ready.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $22,774
- 25th percentile
- $27,644
- 50th percentile
- $31,164
- 75th percentile
- $36,078
- 90th percentile
- $42,864
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $31,164 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+9.3%faster than average
20253,883,888 jobs
2035 projected4,243,722 jobs
359,834 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 80.2%
- Some college
- 17.2%
- Certificate
- 2.6%
- Bachelor's degree
- 0.1%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Team Members36,066 postings
- 02Crew Members27,366 postings
- 03Deli Associates5,886 postings
- 04Deli/Bakery Associates5,378 postings
- 05Front of House Team Members4,091 postings
- 06Service Champions3,521 postings
- 07Crews3,263 postings
- 08To Go Specialists3,236 postings
- 09Meat Associate Team Leaders3,167 postings
- 10Food Service Associates2,890 postings
- 11Service Crew Team Members2,658 postings
- 12Consumables Associates2,426 postings
- 13Food Champions2,339 postings
- 14Back of House Team Members1,925 postings
- 15Seafood Clerks1,397 postings
- 16Production Team Members1,392 postings
- 17Deli Sales Associates1,127 postings
- 18Prepared Foods Service Team Members1,001 postings
- 19Meat Service Team Members877 postings
- 20Runners847 postings
Top employers
- 01Walmart9,040 postings
- 02Taco Bell8,726 postings
- 03Chipotle5,459 postings
- 04Wendy's5,090 postings
- 05McDonald's4,612 postings
- 06Dunkin' Donuts3,388 postings
- 07Pizza Hut3,360 postings
- 08Burger King3,312 postings
- 09Food Lion2,859 postings
- 10Whole Foods2,698 postings
- 11Kentucky Fried Chicken2,485 postings
- 12Chick-fil-A2,414 postings
- 13Chili's Grill & Bar2,208 postings
- 14Albertsons1,832 postings
- 15Pilot Company1,642 postings
- 16Arby's1,457 postings
- 17Sonic Drive-In1,448 postings
- 18Coffee And Bagel Brands1,365 postings
- 19Hannaford Brothers Company1,291 postings
- 20ShopRite1,285 postings
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