Highest-paying Cities for Waiters and Waitresses

The top 100 highest paying cities for waiters and waitresses (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of waiters and waitresses in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $45,680, New Shoreham Town, Rhode Island is the highest paying city for waiters and waitresses. It is followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona (average annual salary $42,830). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of waiters and waitresses in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Waiters and Waitresses

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	New Shoreham Town, Rhode Island	$45,680	$29,330	60
2	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$42,830	$27,440	36,600
3	Southwest Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area, Massachusetts	$42,740	$23,170	270
4	Ithaca, New York	$38,990	$28,920	590
5	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$38,230	$28,030	5,320
6	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$37,770	$30,220	23,400
7	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$37,390	$29,230	107,200
8	Syracuse, New York	$37,320	$27,460	3,430
9	Kingston, New York	$37,240	$28,380	1,250
10	Prescott, Arizona	$37,130	$28,020	1,840
11	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine	$37,020	$28,940	3,300
12	Sierra Vista-Douglas, Arizona	$36,260	$26,760	500
13	Flagstaff, Arizona	$36,240	$27,040	1,930
14	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$36,140	$33,570	10,730
15	Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont	$36,130	$27,280	1,030
16	Tucson, Arizona	$36,080	$26,750	6,320
17	Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Arizona	$36,000	$26,770	1,240
18	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington	$35,950	$31,130	680
19	Rochester, New York	$35,860	$27,460	5,350
20	Bremerton-Silverdale, Washington	$35,820	$30,620	1,220
21	Binghamton, New York	$35,770	$27,460	1,270
22	Olympia, Washington	$35,620	$30,800	1,230
23	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$35,550	$26,500	38,070
24	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$35,460	$30,060	28,860
25	Glens Falls, New York	$35,400	$27,460	980
26	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$35,380	$29,630	5,810
27	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York	$35,370	$27,460	7,020
28	Utica-Rome, New York	$35,250	$27,460	1,600
29	Southern Vermont nonmetropolitan area, Vermont	$35,200	$27,060	1,090
30	Longview, Washington	$35,150	$30,340	370
31	Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$35,140	$27,620	2,500
32	Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington	$35,110	$30,140	1,310
33	Northeast Maine nonmetropolitan area, Maine	$34,980	$27,710	870
34	Northern Vermont nonmetropolitan area, Vermont	$34,950	$27,010	730
35	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, Washington	$34,920	$30,140	860
36	Bellingham, Washington	$34,880	$30,140	1,510
37	Southwest Maine nonmetropolitan area, Maine	$34,830	$27,700	2,780
38	Elmira, New York	$34,650	$27,460	510
39	Barnstable Town, Massachusetts	$34,610	$30,730	2,190
40	Yakima, Washington	$34,580	$30,140	800
41	Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area, Massachusetts	$34,540	$30,760	910
42	Central East New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$34,540	$27,840	1,870
43	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$34,530	$31,180	32,070
44	Eastern Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$34,480	$30,400	1,140
45	Spokane, Washington	$34,460	$30,140	3,060
46	Bangor, Maine	$34,370	$27,950	780
47	Walla Walla, Washington	$34,250	$30,140	320
48	Capital-Northern New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$34,220	$27,460	1,680
49	Napa, California	$34,150	$30,940	2,090
50	Western Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$33,760	$30,200	1,960
51	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California	$33,680	$30,800	4,110
52	Worcester, Massachusetts	$33,400	$29,640	2,990
53	Springfield, Massachusetts	$33,360	$29,640	3,580
54	Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey	$33,290	$27,650	2,100
55	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$33,280	$27,460	7,080
56	Boulder, Colorado	$33,270	$28,130	2,990
57	Vallejo-Fairfield, California	$33,090	$29,910	1,650
58	Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan	$33,040	$22,820	27,250
59	Lewiston-Auburn, Maine	$32,950	$28,000	390
60	Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner, Massachusetts	$32,770	$29,640	680
61	New Haven, Connecticut	$32,740	$27,670	3,770
62	Yuma, Arizona	$32,720	$26,620	1,030
63	Portsmouth, New Hampshire	$32,720	$21,020	1,570
64	Salinas, California	$32,510	$29,690	3,140
65	Danbury, Connecticut	$31,790	$27,400	1,290
66	North Arizona nonmetropolitan area, Arizona	$31,660	$27,910	1,470
67	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$31,500	$30,120	79,370
68	Hanford-Corcoran, California	$31,390	$29,230	320
69	Salt Lake City, Utah	$31,310	$20,700	5,990
70	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California	$31,300	$29,550	1,580
71	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$31,270	$29,850	12,290
72	Norwich-New London, Rhode Island	$31,260	$27,060	2,680
73	Waterbury, Connecticut	$31,200	$27,040	880
74	Ann Arbor, Michigan	$31,200	$22,190	2,740
75	Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$31,190	$29,130	1,450
76	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$31,170	$29,730	23,250
77	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$31,100	$29,550	3,450
78	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$31,040	$29,360	13,460
79	Madison, Wisconsin	$31,020	$17,300	4,680
80	Yuba City, California	$30,960	$29,120	560
81	North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$30,850	$29,120	1,570
82	Balance of Lower Peninsula of Michigan nonmetropolitan area, Michigan	$30,840	$21,630	4,280
83	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, California	$30,800	$29,120	2,670
84	Pittsfield, Massachusetts	$30,790	$29,640	450
85	Midland, Michigan	$30,780	$21,530	430
86	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California	$30,710	$29,140	19,330
87	Madera-Chowchilla, California	$30,640	$29,120	380
88	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$30,610	$29,120	4,620
89	New Bedford, Massachusetts	$30,600	$29,640	910
90	Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Michigan	$30,560	$21,510	1,420
91	Appleton, Wisconsin	$30,560	$17,350	1,520
92	North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$30,470	$29,320	1,360
93	Stockton, California	$30,450	$29,120	2,300
94	Modesto, California	$30,350	$29,260	2,280
95	Upper Peninsula of Michigan nonmetropolitan area, Michigan	$30,180	$21,370	2,100
96	Monroe, Michigan	$30,140	$21,570	680
97	St George, Utah	$30,140	$19,740	1,080
98	Lewiston, Washington	$30,140	$19,410	300
99	Ocean City, New Jersey	$30,060	$27,270	1,720
100	Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado	$30,040	$26,480	2,970

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for waiters and waitresses.