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Food Service Manager: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of food service managers earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$69,390
Hourly
$33.36
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Food Service Managers plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that serves food and beverages. The median pay is $69,390 a year ($33.36 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a high school diploma or equivalent (30% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$69,390
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
238,430
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 1-2 of 5
very little to some preparation
Most common education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
30% of workers
Key facts

Food Service Managers at a glance

  • Food service managers in the United States earned a median annual wage of $69,390 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for food service managers in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of food service managers in the United States to grow 5.8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 38,800 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimates that less than 15% of food service managers in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.

    Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary

Explore the role

Every page for Food Service Managers

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The work

What food service managers do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Count money and make bank deposits.
  2. Establish standards for personnel performance and customer service.
  3. Keep records required by government agencies regarding sanitation or food subsidies.
  4. Schedule staff hours and assign duties.
  5. Investigate and resolve complaints regarding food quality, service, or accommodations.
  6. Maintain food and equipment inventories, and keep inventory records.
  7. Perform some food preparation or service tasks, such as cooking, clearing tables, and serving food and drinks when necessary.
  8. Monitor budgets and payroll records, and review financial transactions to ensure that expenditures are authorized and budgeted.
Job requirements

What the job requires

Data BLS figures for food service managers (SOC 11-9051), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey.

Telework available
less than 15%
of workers had the ability to telework
Workday sitting
33.8%
mean share of the day required to sit
Most common strength level
Light
74.1% of workers
Can pause work
78.6%
of workers could take short, unscheduled breaks
Self-paced workload
66.0%
of workers set their own workload
Employer-changed schedules
57.6%
of workers had schedules changed by the employer week to week

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.

Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all food service manager jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).

  1. Food services and drinking places55.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $71,500
  2. Accommodation3.4% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.9% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $91,680
  3. Management of companies and enterprises2.1% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $90,810
  4. Educational services; state, local, and private1.9% of all jobs in this occupation · +0.7% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $83,560
  5. Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries1.5% of all jobs in this occupation · +7.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $89,840
  6. Nursing and residential care facilities1.2% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $82,540

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

CoordinationcoreManagement of Personnel ResourcescoreActive ListeningcoreSpeakingMonitoringService OrientationReading ComprehensionSocial PerceptivenessCritical Thinking

Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, Administration and Management, Food Production, English Language, Personnel and Human Resources, Sales and Marketing.

Tools and technology

Software food service managers use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • FacebookWeb page creation and editing softwareHot technology
  • Aestiva Employee Time ClockTime accounting software
  • Army Food Management Information SystemInventory management software
  • Aurora FoodProAnalytical or scientific software
  • ChefDesk Chef's CalculatorsAnalytical or scientific software
  • ClubSoft Food & Beverage Point of SalePoint of sale POS software
  • Culinary Software Services ChefTecAnalytical or scientific software
  • DataTeam Lunch ExpressPoint of sale POS software
  • Delphi TechnologyFinancial analysis software
  • Dinerware Intuitive RestaurantPoint of sale POS software
  • Food Service Solutions FoodCoInventory management software
  • Food Service Solutions POSitive ID SystemPoint of sale POS software

Also called: Banquet Manager, Catering Manager, CDM (Certified Dietary Manager), Dining Service Director, F and B Manager (Food and Beverage Manager), Food Service Director.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.