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Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Iowa

Thinking about a career as a Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Iowa? Here’s what you need to know. Facilitate food service. Clean tables; remove dirty dishes; replace soiled table linens; set tables; replenish supply of clean linens, silverware, glassware, and dishes; supply service bar with food; and serve items such as water, condiments, and coffee to patrons.

What do Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers Make in Iowa?

For a dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers working in Iowa, the typical annual salary is $26,710 per year (or about $12.84/hour).Pay can range from $17,560 at the 10th percentile to $35,830 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$17,560	$8.44
25th percentile	$20,650	$9.93
Median (50th)	$26,710	$12.84
75th percentile	$30,450	$14.64
90th percentile	$35,830	$17.23

Location quotient — how concentrated this career is in Iowa relative to the national average — is 0.57, indicating fewer dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers per worker than the national average.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers earn a median of $36,562 per year ($17.58/hour), lower than the Iowa median.

Employment Outlook

National employment for 79,189 dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers across the United States. In Iowa alone, about 3,020 people work in this role. That’s fewer than the typical state, which employs around 4,460 dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers.

Top Iowa Metros for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers

These are the Iowa metros with the most dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in Iowa.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	790	$25,800
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	340	$29,120
Iowa City, IA	260	$27,250
Cedar Rapids, IA	240	$25,340
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	180	$28,070
Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	150	$28,830
Ames, IA	130	$27,880
Dubuque, IA	120	$25,270

Top States for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers Employment

The table below shows the states where the most dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers work.

State	Number Employed
California	78,320
Texas	55,560
Florida	46,540
New York	44,040
Illinois	20,510
Pennsylvania	19,940
Michigan	14,470
New Jersey	13,890
Nevada	13,240
Maryland	13,080
Georgia	12,680
Ohio	12,370
Arizona	11,520
Tennessee	11,470
Massachusetts	10,820
Indiana	10,730
Virginia	9,480
North Carolina	9,190
Colorado	8,710
Missouri	8,220

Highest-Paying States for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers

These states pay the most for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers.

State	Annual Median Salary
Hawaii	$47,190
Washington	$38,800
District of Columbia	$38,160
Maine	$37,470
Vermont	$36,920
New York	$36,780
Arizona	$35,870
California	$35,790
Maryland	$35,590
Colorado	$35,550

Skills

Key dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Key knowledge areas for this occupation, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Abilities

Key abilities for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Daily Tasks

Day-to-day, dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers typically:

• Run cash registers.
• Serve ice water, coffee, rolls, or butter to patrons.
• Scrape and stack dirty dishes and carry dishes and other tableware to kitchens for cleaning.
• Wipe tables or seats with dampened cloths or replace dirty tablecloths.
• Set tables with clean linens, condiments, or other supplies.
• Greet and seat customers.
• Clean up spilled food or drink or broken dishes and remove empty bottles and trash.
• Maintain adequate supplies of items, such as clean linens, silverware, glassware, dishes, or trays.
• Locate items requested by customers.
• Fill beverage or ice dispensers.
• Carry food, dishes, trays, or silverware from kitchens or supply departments to serving counters.
• Perform serving, cleaning, or stocking duties in establishments, such as cafeterias or dining rooms, to facilitate customer service.

Work Activities

• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
• Getting Information
• Assisting and Caring for Others
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others
• Developing and Building Teams
• Scheduling Work and Activities
• Training and Teaching Others
• Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work

Tools & Technology

Common tools and software used in this occupation include: Hot technologies: Facebook

Related Careers

Other careers like dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers include:

• Food Service Managers
• Chefs and Head Cooks
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
• Cooks, Fast Food
• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
• Cooks, Private Household

Also Known As

Banquet Houseperson, Banquet Set Up Person, Bar Attendant, Bar Back, Barback, Barmaid, Bartender Helper, Beverage Server, Breakfast Attendant, Breakfast Bar Attendant, Buffet Attendant, Bus Boy, Bus Person, Busboy, Busser.

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
• O*NET Online — https://www.onetonline.org/
• BLS Employment Projections — https://www.bls.gov/emp/
• O*NET-SOC code: 35-9011.00