High paying food service jobs in Michigan with no experience

The best paid food service occupations in Michigan 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 Michigan run 3.8% below the national average (2024), so a Michigan salary is worth about 1.04× 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 Michigan.

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

Find food service jobs in Michigan

OccupationMedian, Michigan · Employed

1Waiters and Waitresses$37,760
No formal educational credential
$25,960 – $64,35065,090
2Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$36,870
No formal educational credential
$29,800 – $45,54013,500
3Bartenders$36,780
No formal educational credential
$25,960 – $76,09021,100
4Cooks, Short Order$34,510
No formal educational credential
$26,750 – $43,1802,560
5Food Servers, Nonrestaurant$34,260
No formal educational credential
$28,730 – $38,1807,700
6Dishwashers$31,300
No formal educational credential
$25,960 – $37,93011,510
7Food Preparation Workers$31,180
No formal educational credential
$26,540 – $38,62017,380
8Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers$30,390
No formal educational credential
$25,960 – $44,18013,050
9Cooks, Fast Food$29,460
No formal educational credential
$25,960 – $37,24014,340
10Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop$28,950
No formal educational credential
$25,960 – $37,27012,620
11Fast Food and Counter Workers$28,930
No formal educational credential
$25,960 – $35,970103,130

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

#	Occupation	MedianMichigan	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Waiters and WaitressesNo formal educational credential	$37,760	$25,960 – $64,350	65,090
2	Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaNo formal educational credential	$36,870	$29,800 – $45,540	13,500
3	BartendersNo formal educational credential	$36,780	$25,960 – $76,090	21,100
4	Cooks, Short OrderNo formal educational credential	$34,510	$26,750 – $43,180	2,560
5	Food Servers, NonrestaurantNo formal educational credential	$34,260	$28,730 – $38,180	7,700
6	DishwashersNo formal educational credential	$31,300	$25,960 – $37,930	11,510
7	Food Preparation WorkersNo formal educational credential	$31,180	$26,540 – $38,620	17,380
8	Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender HelpersNo formal educational credential	$30,390	$25,960 – $44,180	13,050
9	Cooks, Fast FoodNo formal educational credential	$29,460	$25,960 – $37,240	14,340
10	Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee ShopNo formal educational credential	$28,950	$25,960 – $37,270	12,620
11	Fast Food and Counter WorkersNo formal educational credential	$28,930	$25,960 – $35,970	103,130

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

Metro areas in Michigan

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

By field in Michigan

Without a degree

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

High paying food service jobs in Michigan with no experience

More for Michigan

Metro areas in Michigan

By field in Michigan

Without a degree

High paying food service jobs in each state with no experience