High paying food service jobs in Puerto Rico

Every food service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Puerto Rico. 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.

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

Find food service jobs in Puerto Rico

OccupationMedian, Puerto Rico · Employed

1Chefs and Head Cooks$30,800
High school diploma or equivalent
$23,730 – $68,580770
2First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers$28,420
High school diploma or equivalent
$23,130 – $41,3206,960
3Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$26,260
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $39,6507,000
4Cooks, Restaurant$24,650
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $29,6409,810
5Dishwashers$23,020
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $25,7501,820
6Waiters and Waitresses$22,790
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $44,14012,260
7Cooks, Fast Food$22,640
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $29,0003,810
8Bartenders$22,630
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $38,3103,480
9Cooks, Short Order$22,500
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $23,3501,640
10Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop$22,480
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $24,9601,270
11Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers$22,450
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $25,9501,070
12Food Preparation Workers$22,400
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $27,5504,130
13Fast Food and Counter Workers$22,030
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $23,00026,440
14Food Servers, Nonrestaurant$21,840
No formal educational credential
$21,840 – $24,690540

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianPuerto Rico	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Chefs and Head CooksHigh school diploma or equivalent	$30,800	$23,730 – $68,580	770
2	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$28,420	$23,130 – $41,320	6,960
3	Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaNo formal educational credential	$26,260	$21,840 – $39,650	7,000
4	Cooks, RestaurantNo formal educational credential	$24,650	$21,840 – $29,640	9,810
5	DishwashersNo formal educational credential	$23,020	$21,840 – $25,750	1,820
6	Waiters and WaitressesNo formal educational credential	$22,790	$21,840 – $44,140	12,260
7	Cooks, Fast FoodNo formal educational credential	$22,640	$21,840 – $29,000	3,810
8	BartendersNo formal educational credential	$22,630	$21,840 – $38,310	3,480
9	Cooks, Short OrderNo formal educational credential	$22,500	$21,840 – $23,350	1,640
10	Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee ShopNo formal educational credential	$22,480	$21,840 – $24,960	1,270
11	Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender HelpersNo formal educational credential	$22,450	$21,840 – $25,950	1,070
12	Food Preparation WorkersNo formal educational credential	$22,400	$21,840 – $27,550	4,130
13	Fast Food and Counter WorkersNo formal educational credential	$22,030	$21,840 – $23,000	26,440
14	Food Servers, NonrestaurantNo formal educational credential	$21,840	$21,840 – $24,690	540

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Puerto Rico. 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 Puerto Rico

Other metro areas in PR

By field in Puerto Rico

Without a degree

The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Puerto Rico to rank honestly.

High paying food service jobs in Puerto Rico

More for Puerto Rico

Other metro areas in PR

By field in Puerto Rico

Without a degree

High paying food service jobs in each state