High paying food service jobs in Maryland with no experience

The best paid food service occupations in Maryland 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 Maryland run 5.0% above the national average (2024), so a Maryland salary is worth about 0.95× 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 Maryland.

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

Find food service jobs in Maryland

OccupationMedian, Maryland · Employed

1Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$41,380
No formal educational credential
$35,520 – $49,7503,370
2Bartenders$37,580
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $69,73013,020
3Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other$37,500
No formal educational credential
$31,720 – $48,2503,540
4Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers$37,020
No formal educational credential
$31,840 – $45,93013,240
5Cooks, Short Order$36,800
No formal educational credential
$31,840 – $44,5403,250
6Waiters and Waitresses$36,750
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $62,21038,120
7Food Servers, Nonrestaurant$36,650
No formal educational credential
$31,840 – $42,9306,600
8Food Preparation Workers$35,500
No formal educational credential
$31,290 – $45,89013,280
9Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop$34,860
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $38,1807,390
10Dishwashers$34,030
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $38,0409,310
11Fast Food and Counter Workers$33,660
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $37,39049,380
12Cooks, Fast Food$33,320
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $38,21010,960

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

#	Occupation	MedianMaryland	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaNo formal educational credential	$41,380	$35,520 – $49,750	3,370
2	BartendersNo formal educational credential	$37,580	$31,200 – $69,730	13,020
3	Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All OtherNo formal educational credential	$37,500	$31,720 – $48,250	3,540
4	Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender HelpersNo formal educational credential	$37,020	$31,840 – $45,930	13,240
5	Cooks, Short OrderNo formal educational credential	$36,800	$31,840 – $44,540	3,250
6	Waiters and WaitressesNo formal educational credential	$36,750	$31,200 – $62,210	38,120
7	Food Servers, NonrestaurantNo formal educational credential	$36,650	$31,840 – $42,930	6,600
8	Food Preparation WorkersNo formal educational credential	$35,500	$31,290 – $45,890	13,280
9	Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee ShopNo formal educational credential	$34,860	$31,200 – $38,180	7,390
10	DishwashersNo formal educational credential	$34,030	$31,200 – $38,040	9,310
11	Fast Food and Counter WorkersNo formal educational credential	$33,660	$31,200 – $37,390	49,380
12	Cooks, Fast FoodNo formal educational credential	$33,320	$31,200 – $38,210	10,960

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

Metro areas in Maryland

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

By field in Maryland

Without a degree

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

High paying food service jobs in Maryland with no experience

More for Maryland

Metro areas in Maryland

By field in Maryland

Without a degree

High paying food service jobs in each state with no experience