United States · SOC 35-0000 · Annual, 2025
Food preparation and serving related occupations in the United States
Employment and average annual wage for SOC 35-0000 in the United States, 2004–2025, from DTG's OEWS-based estimates.
In 2025, about 13,655,200 people in the United States worked in food preparation and serving related occupations (SOC 35-0000), with an average annual wage of $41,030.
Employment in food preparation and serving related occupations in the United States grew 25.1% from 2020 to 2025. The average wage in this occupation group is 47.8% below the all-occupations average in the United States. Employment reached its 2004–2025 peak in 2025, at about 13,655,200. Quarterly values, full occupation detail and projections to 2036 for the United States are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.
- 13,655,200Employment, 2025
- $41,030Mean annual wage
- 8.8%Share of U.S. jobs
Employment, 2004 to 2025
Annual average · all ownerships
Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 10,336,400; 2005 10,569,600; 2006 10,804,900; 2007 11,038,000; 2008 11,081,600; 2009 10,819,600; 2010 10,839,200; 2011 11,069,200; 2012 11,420,300; 2013 11,790,100; 2014 12,135,400; 2015 12,520,800; 2016 12,879,400; 2017 13,085,200; 2018 13,290,800; 2019 13,487,100; 2020 10,917,000; 2021 11,714,800; 2022 12,656,300; 2023 13,366,400; 2024 13,614,700; 2025 13,655,200.
Last ten years
Annual · 10 years
| Year | Employment | Mean annual wage | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13,655,237 | $41,033 | 0.3% |
| 2024 | 13,614,750 | $39,735 | 1.9% |
| 2023 | 13,366,443 | $37,799 | 5.6% |
| 2022 | 12,656,305 | $36,113 | 8.0% |
| 2021 | 11,714,753 | $33,848 | 7.3% |
| 2020 | 10,916,954 | $31,206 | 19.1% |
| 2019 | 13,487,062 | $29,133 | 1.5% |
| 2018 | 13,290,806 | $27,774 | 1.6% |
| 2017 | 13,085,181 | $26,389 | 1.6% |
| 2016 | 12,879,448 | $25,416 | 2.9% |
The full history from 2004 and quarterly values are available with a free account.
Where these numbers come from
Reading these figures
The figures on this page come from one named vintage, stated below, and are annual values for all ownerships combined. Every occupation value is a DTG estimate: there is no published county or state census of occupations to report, so no value here is marked as published or estimated, and none carries a reliability score. Quarterly figures, county figures, detailed occupations and projected years are in the app.
How these figures are built
DTG’s industry employment fixes how many jobs there are in each industry in the state. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ national industry-occupation matrix says how each industry is staffed, and the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey says how many people work in each occupation in the area and what they earn. DTG makes the three agree, so occupation employment sums to the same totals as industry employment. Employment is the annual average; the mean annual wage is the year’s total occupation wages divided by that average employment. The construction is described in full on the occupation data page.
Notes
Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.
Food preparation and serving related occupations in the United States, quarterly, at full depth
This page shows annual figures for food preparation and serving related occupations in the United States. A free account shows every detailed occupation in the group, quarterly, for every state, with projections to ten years. No card.
County figures, file export and the API are on paid plans.