High paying food service jobs in Virginia

Every food service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Virginia. 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 Virginia run 1.1% above the national average (2024), so a Virginia salary is worth about 0.99× 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 Virginia.

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

Find food service jobs in Virginia

OccupationMedian, Virginia · Employed

1Chefs and Head Cooks$63,270
High school diploma or equivalent
$43,010 – $90,4703,600
2Bartenders$47,070
No formal educational credential
$27,890 – $90,40013,370
3First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers$45,550
High school diploma or equivalent
$32,030 – $63,25030,640
4Waiters and Waitresses$44,760
No formal educational credential
$28,270 – $74,13059,370
5Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$37,890
No formal educational credential
$30,000 – $47,94011,170
6Cooks, Restaurant$36,750
No formal educational credential
$29,340 – $45,74040,310
7Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other$35,870
No formal educational credential
$27,780 – $45,7601,390
8Food Servers, Nonrestaurant$35,090
No formal educational credential
$29,040 – $42,9307,420
9Food Preparation Workers$34,900
No formal educational credential
$28,460 – $42,48016,340
10Dishwashers$33,130
No formal educational credential
$27,300 – $40,45012,520
11Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers$32,410
No formal educational credential
$27,370 – $46,36011,910
12Cooks, Short Order$31,200
No formal educational credential
$25,810 – $42,5203,350
13Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop$30,490
No formal educational credential
$27,230 – $44,63010,890
14Fast Food and Counter Workers$30,110
No formal educational credential
$27,130 – $37,550104,460
15Cooks, Fast Food$29,950
No formal educational credential
$27,400 – $37,73012,520

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

#	Occupation	MedianVirginia	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Chefs and Head CooksHigh school diploma or equivalent	$63,270	$43,010 – $90,470	3,600
2	BartendersNo formal educational credential	$47,070	$27,890 – $90,400	13,370
3	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,550	$32,030 – $63,250	30,640
4	Waiters and WaitressesNo formal educational credential	$44,760	$28,270 – $74,130	59,370
5	Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaNo formal educational credential	$37,890	$30,000 – $47,940	11,170
6	Cooks, RestaurantNo formal educational credential	$36,750	$29,340 – $45,740	40,310
7	Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All OtherNo formal educational credential	$35,870	$27,780 – $45,760	1,390
8	Food Servers, NonrestaurantNo formal educational credential	$35,090	$29,040 – $42,930	7,420
9	Food Preparation WorkersNo formal educational credential	$34,900	$28,460 – $42,480	16,340
10	DishwashersNo formal educational credential	$33,130	$27,300 – $40,450	12,520
11	Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender HelpersNo formal educational credential	$32,410	$27,370 – $46,360	11,910
12	Cooks, Short OrderNo formal educational credential	$31,200	$25,810 – $42,520	3,350
13	Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee ShopNo formal educational credential	$30,490	$27,230 – $44,630	10,890
14	Fast Food and Counter WorkersNo formal educational credential	$30,110	$27,130 – $37,550	104,460
15	Cooks, Fast FoodNo formal educational credential	$29,950	$27,400 – $37,730	12,520

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

Metro areas in Virginia

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

By field in Virginia

Without a degree

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

High paying food service jobs in Virginia

More for Virginia

Metro areas in Virginia

By field in Virginia

Without a degree

High paying food service jobs in each state