High paying food service jobs in Texas

Every food service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Texas. 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 Texas run 2.9% below the national average (2024), so a Texas salary is worth about 1.03× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order. To see where a job pays a real premium, use jobs that pay more in Texas.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find food service jobs in Texas

OccupationMedian, Texas · Employed

1Chefs and Head Cooks$56,080
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,380 – $92,29013,270
2First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers$36,480
High school diploma or equivalent
$28,010 – $61,560137,930
3Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$35,360
No formal educational credential
$24,770 – $44,84024,740
4Cooks, Restaurant$34,760
No formal educational credential
$23,330 – $42,810126,620
5Cooks, All Other$32,150
No formal educational credential
$25,600 – $41,5704,650
6Food Preparation Workers$30,650
No formal educational credential
$22,790 – $42,45081,280
7Dishwashers$29,610
No formal educational credential
$21,920 – $36,72033,630
8Food Servers, Nonrestaurant$29,300
No formal educational credential
$21,930 – $36,93014,340
9Cooks, Fast Food$28,280
No formal educational credential
$20,800 – $39,14036,240
10Fast Food and Counter Workers$27,740
No formal educational credential
$21,710 – $35,680460,530
11Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop$27,080
No formal educational credential
$17,270 – $36,87035,550
12Cooks, Short Order$25,320
No formal educational credential
$21,850 – $36,3207,540
13Waiters and Waitresses$23,240
No formal educational credential
$17,070 – $47,590199,610
14Bartenders$22,690
No formal educational credential
$16,200 – $65,30059,000
15Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers$21,550
No formal educational credential
$15,710 – $35,54060,270

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

#	Occupation	MedianTexas	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Chefs and Head CooksHigh school diploma or equivalent	$56,080	$31,380 – $92,290	13,270
2	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$36,480	$28,010 – $61,560	137,930
3	Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaNo formal educational credential	$35,360	$24,770 – $44,840	24,740
4	Cooks, RestaurantNo formal educational credential	$34,760	$23,330 – $42,810	126,620
5	Cooks, All OtherNo formal educational credential	$32,150	$25,600 – $41,570	4,650
6	Food Preparation WorkersNo formal educational credential	$30,650	$22,790 – $42,450	81,280
7	DishwashersNo formal educational credential	$29,610	$21,920 – $36,720	33,630
8	Food Servers, NonrestaurantNo formal educational credential	$29,300	$21,930 – $36,930	14,340
9	Cooks, Fast FoodNo formal educational credential	$28,280	$20,800 – $39,140	36,240
10	Fast Food and Counter WorkersNo formal educational credential	$27,740	$21,710 – $35,680	460,530
11	Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee ShopNo formal educational credential	$27,080	$17,270 – $36,870	35,550
12	Cooks, Short OrderNo formal educational credential	$25,320	$21,850 – $36,320	7,540
13	Waiters and WaitressesNo formal educational credential	$23,240	$17,070 – $47,590	199,610
14	BartendersNo formal educational credential	$22,690	$16,200 – $65,300	59,000
15	Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender HelpersNo formal educational credential	$21,550	$15,710 – $35,540	60,270

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

Metro areas in Texas

Pay varies more between metros than between states — the spread inside one state is often wider than the gap between two.

By field in Texas

Without a degree

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

High paying food service jobs in Texas

More for Texas

Metro areas in Texas

By field in Texas

Without a degree

High paying food service jobs in each state