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Baristas: Career Overview

Prepare or serve specialty coffee or other beverages. Serve food such as baked goods or sandwiches to patrons.

What Tasks Do Baristas Take On?

The day-to-day responsibilities of baristas cover:

• Receive and process customer payments.
• Prepare or serve hot or cold beverages, such as coffee, espresso drinks, blended coffees, or teas.
• Take customer orders and convey them to other employees for preparation.
• Clean or sanitize work areas, utensils, or equipment.
• Describe menu items to customers, or suggest products that might appeal to them.
• Clean service or seating areas.
• Serve prepared foods, such as muffins, biscotti, or bagels.
• Prepare or serve menu items, such as sandwiches or salads.

Skills and Knowledge

Top baristas combine a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Top Skills

The abilities most central to this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Core Knowledge

Related Job Titles

This career also goes by job titles like:

• Barista
• Cafe Barista
• Catering Barista
• Coffee Bar Attendant
• Coffee Barista
• Coffee Brewer
• Coffee Maker
• Coffee Shop Attendant

Employment and Demand

There are roughly 883,432 baristas working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to grow by +14.3% over the projection horizon.

How Much Do Baristas Make?

Statistic	Value
Annual median	$29,815
Hourly median	$14.33
10th percentile	$21,732
25th percentile	$25,774
75th percentile	$33,857
90th percentile	$37,899

Wages vary widely based on experience, location, and industry.

Pay by State

State	Annual median salary
District of Columbia	$38,240
California	$37,010
Washington	$36,820
Colorado	$35,440
New York	$35,270
Massachusetts	$35,060
Vermont	$34,540
Alaska	$34,430
Oregon	$34,430
Maine	$34,360
Connecticut	$33,980
New Jersey	$33,290
Arizona	$33,060
Minnesota	$31,950
Illinois	$31,900
Maryland	$31,200
Hawaii	$30,860
Rhode Island	$30,460
New Hampshire	$30,320
Delaware	$30,210
North Dakota	$30,010
South Dakota	$29,480
Nebraska	$29,420
Missouri	$29,310
Montana	$29,280
Nevada	$29,180
Virginia	$29,060
Michigan	$28,870
North Carolina	$28,760
Utah	$28,670
New Mexico	$28,650
Wisconsin	$28,500
Pennsylvania	$28,490
Idaho	$28,450
Iowa	$28,400
Indiana	$28,290
Wyoming	$28,200
Ohio	$28,100
Florida	$27,990
Tennessee	$27,840
Kentucky	$27,170
Texas	$27,000
Kansas	$27,000
South Carolina	$26,830
Arkansas	$26,740
Georgia	$26,310
West Virginia	$24,960
Virgin Islands	$23,680
Oklahoma	$23,590
Alabama	$23,490
Louisiana	$23,110
Mississippi	$22,280
Puerto Rico	$20,850
Guam	$20,580

Top-Paying U.S. Regions

Compensation for baristas shift depending on where you work. These regions lead on median pay:

Region	Median annual wage	Share of U.S. jobs	Location quotient
Far Western US	$35,982	17.5%	1.06
New England	$34,025	4.2%	0.90
Middle Atlantic	$32,495	12.4%	0.82
Rocky Mountains	$31,688	4.7%	1.16
Plains States	$29,447	6.0%	0.97
Great Lakes	$29,231	15.3%	1.10
Southwest	$27,665	15.1%	1.20
Southeast	$27,137	24.1%	1.01

Top Metro Areas

Metro area	State	Median annual wage	Employment
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	CA	$42,660	21,320
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	CA	$40,470	47,330
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	WA	$38,310	51,590
Napa, CA	CA	$38,270	1,540
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	CA	$38,090	5,160
Vallejo, CA	CA	$37,680	4,550
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	CA	$37,650	25,790
Salinas, CA	CA	$37,440	4,400

Industry Breakdown

The largest employers of baristas are concentrated in the following sectors:

Industry	Employment	Median annual wage
Accommodation and Food Services	3,313,790	$30,140
Retail Trade	212,930	$34,340
Educational Services	107,730	$33,400
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	44,670	$31,740
Manufacturing	24,930	$33,820
Health Care and Social Assistance	17,550	$35,750
Information	15,740	$27,480
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	9,640	$30,640

The table below shows some of the most common industries where those employed in this career field work.

Tech Stack

• Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
• Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
• Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)

Work Environment

The on-the-job environment of baristas is shaped by the following characteristics:

• Spend Time Standing
• Contact With Others
• Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls
• Deal With External Customers or the Public in General
• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams

Getting Started in This Career

Entry-level baristas positions require less than a high school diploma as the typical entry-level education. This occupation sits in Some Preparation Needed (Job Zone 2), indicating the level of preparation typically expected.

Related Careers

Similar Occupations

• Food Service Managers (Supplemental)
• Chefs and Head Cooks (Supplemental)
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers (Supplemental)
• Cooks, Fast Food (Primary-Long)
• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria (Supplemental)
• Cooks, Private Household (Primary-Long)
• Cooks, Restaurant (Primary-Long)
• Cooks, Short Order (Primary-Long)

About the Data

Statistics shown above are sourced from the following authoritative sources:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
• BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
• O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 35-3023.01 (Fast Food and Counter Workers).