High paying food service jobs in Illinois with no experience

The best paid food service occupations in Illinois that require neither a degree nor prior experience in a related job. This is the narrowest cut on the site, so it is also the shortest list: where a field has only two or three such occupations, there is no page at all rather than a page pretending otherwise.

Cost of living: prices in Illinois run 0.0% below the national average (2024), so a Illinois salary is worth about 1.00× 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 Illinois.

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

Find food service jobs in Illinois

OccupationMedian, Illinois · Employed

1Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other$38,880
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $56,0002,720
2Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$37,440
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $48,13022,840
3Cooks, Short Order$37,440
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $45,9502,630
4Dishwashers$36,180
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $42,27016,250
5Food Servers, Nonrestaurant$35,080
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $41,96017,560
6Cooks, Fast Food$34,960
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $40,58013,430
7Food Preparation Workers$34,850
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $44,99034,820
8Fast Food and Counter Workers$33,910
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $37,330127,590
9Waiters and Waitresses$31,200
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $49,47072,900
10Bartenders$31,200
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $46,52043,010
11Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers$31,200
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $38,11021,290
12Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop$31,200
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $44,72016,500

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

#	Occupation	MedianIllinois	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All OtherNo formal educational credential	$38,880	$31,200 – $56,000	2,720
2	Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaNo formal educational credential	$37,440	$31,200 – $48,130	22,840
3	Cooks, Short OrderNo formal educational credential	$37,440	$31,200 – $45,950	2,630
4	DishwashersNo formal educational credential	$36,180	$31,200 – $42,270	16,250
5	Food Servers, NonrestaurantNo formal educational credential	$35,080	$31,200 – $41,960	17,560
6	Cooks, Fast FoodNo formal educational credential	$34,960	$31,200 – $40,580	13,430
7	Food Preparation WorkersNo formal educational credential	$34,850	$31,200 – $44,990	34,820
8	Fast Food and Counter WorkersNo formal educational credential	$33,910	$31,200 – $37,330	127,590
9	Waiters and WaitressesNo formal educational credential	$31,200	$31,200 – $49,470	72,900
10	BartendersNo formal educational credential	$31,200	$31,200 – $46,520	43,010
11	Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender HelpersNo formal educational credential	$31,200	$31,200 – $38,110	21,290
12	Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee ShopNo formal educational credential	$31,200	$31,200 – $44,720	16,500

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

Metro areas in Illinois

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

By field in Illinois

Without a degree

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

High paying food service jobs in Illinois with no experience

More for Illinois

Metro areas in Illinois

By field in Illinois

Without a degree

High paying food service jobs in each state with no experience