High paying food service jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
Every food service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD. Read the percentile range, not just the median: the gap between the 10th and 90th inside a single food service job is usually wider than the gap between two different ones, so where you land in a field matters more than which field you pick.
Cost of living: prices in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD run 4.5% above the national average (2024), so a Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD salary is worth about 0.96× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order.
Local wage estimates are suppressed more often than state ones — BLS withholds any figure too few local employers report — so an occupation missing here simply has no published local estimate.
Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,760 – $93,5801,740No formal educational credential
$35,630 – $48,3401,660High school diploma or equivalent
$35,140 – $62,27010,940No formal educational credential
$31,500 – $45,3305,950No formal educational credential
$35,250 – $46,8707,760No formal educational credential
$31,240 – $48,2501,980No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $69,7306,430No formal educational credential
$31,840 – $44,5401,940No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $60,65019,590No formal educational credential
$31,550 – $40,9903,540No formal educational credential
$31,470 – $46,7806,830No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $36,7403,590No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $38,2105,440No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $36,8104,770No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $36,15021,090
Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.
| # | Occupation | MedianBaltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chefs and Head CooksHigh school diploma or equivalent | $59,290 | $37,760 – $93,580 | 1,740 |
| 2 | Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaNo formal educational credential | $39,310 | $35,630 – $48,340 | 1,660 |
| 3 | First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent | $38,760 | $35,140 – $62,270 | 10,940 |
| 4 | Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender HelpersNo formal educational credential | $37,540 | $31,500 – $45,330 | 5,950 |
| 5 | Cooks, RestaurantNo formal educational credential | $37,420 | $35,250 – $46,870 | 7,760 |
| 6 | Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All OtherNo formal educational credential | $37,390 | $31,240 – $48,250 | 1,980 |
| 7 | BartendersNo formal educational credential | $37,360 | $31,200 – $69,730 | 6,430 |
| 8 | Cooks, Short OrderNo formal educational credential | $36,460 | $31,840 – $44,540 | 1,940 |
| 9 | Waiters and WaitressesNo formal educational credential | $36,170 | $31,200 – $60,650 | 19,590 |
| 10 | Food Servers, NonrestaurantNo formal educational credential | $35,710 | $31,550 – $40,990 | 3,540 |
| 11 | Food Preparation WorkersNo formal educational credential | $35,080 | $31,470 – $46,780 | 6,830 |
| 12 | Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee ShopNo formal educational credential | $34,320 | $31,200 – $36,740 | 3,590 |
| 13 | Cooks, Fast FoodNo formal educational credential | $33,290 | $31,200 – $38,210 | 5,440 |
| 14 | DishwashersNo formal educational credential | $33,280 | $31,200 – $36,810 | 4,770 |
| 15 | Fast Food and Counter WorkersNo formal educational credential | $33,090 | $31,200 – $36,150 | 21,090 |
Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.
More for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
- High paying jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
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By field in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
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Without a degree
The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD to rank honestly.
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- High paying security and protective service jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no experience
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- High paying personal care jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no experience
- High paying sales jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no degree
- High paying sales jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no experience
- High paying office and admin jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no degree
- High paying office and admin jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no experience
- High paying construction jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no degree
- High paying construction jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no experience
- High paying repair and maintenance jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no degree
- High paying repair and maintenance jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no experience
- High paying production jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no degree
- High paying production jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no experience
- High paying transportation jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no degree
- High paying transportation jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD with no experience
High paying food service jobs in each state
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