Bartenders salary

SOC 35-3011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$34,340

per year, nationally

Middle half

$27,400–$47,570

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

756,390

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+5.9%

129,600 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$20,110$73,770

10th: $20,110
25th: $27,400
Median: $34,340
75th: $47,570
90th: $73,770

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where bartenders earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Hawaii	$76,490	110.0	3,540	1.16×
2	New York	$61,210	107.9	43,130	0.92×
3	Washington	$55,830	107.0	16,800	0.97×
4	District of Columbia	$53,920	109.9	5,760	1.69×
5	Maine	$48,920	97.0	3,230	1.04×
6	Virginia	$47,070	101.1	13,370	0.67×
7	Vermont	$45,450	98.0	2,080	1.40×
8	Arizona	$45,070	100.7	14,840	0.94×
9	New Jersey	$44,020	108.8	16,260	0.78×
10	Oregon	$38,900	103.4	11,950	1.25×
11	Connecticut	$38,780	103.6	7,680	0.93×
12	Colorado	$38,170	103.1	17,000	1.22×
13	Maryland	$37,580	105.0	13,020	0.97×
14	Massachusetts	$37,440	105.8	19,850	1.12×
15	New Mexico	$36,980	92.2	3,790	0.89×
16	Delaware	$36,840	99.8	2,820	1.19×
17	Michigan	$36,780	96.2	21,100	0.98×
18	North Carolina	$36,470	94.3	20,070	0.83×
19	Rhode Island	$36,410	102.3	3,170	1.30×
20	California	$36,220	110.7	71,470	0.81×
21	Florida	$35,150	103.4	55,170	1.14×
22	Utah	$32,150	98.9	3,350	0.40×
23	Illinois	$31,200	100.0	43,010	1.45×
24	Ohio	$30,880	92.8	27,420	1.02×
25	Alaska	$30,460	102.4	2,280	1.44×
26	Nebraska	$30,180	90.1	7,320	1.47×
27	Missouri	$30,090	90.8	14,410	1.01×
28	West Virginia	$29,630	89.5	3,340	0.98×
29	South Dakota	$29,400	88.6	3,930	1.77×
30	North Dakota	$29,040	89.0	3,960	1.90×
31	New Hampshire	$28,800	104.2	3,840	1.16×
32	Kentucky	$28,780	90.2	6,870	0.71×
33	Pennsylvania	$28,420	97.6	37,490	1.27×
34	Mississippi	$28,320	87.0	2,770	0.49×
35	Alabama	$27,980	88.8	6,560	0.64×
36	Kansas	$27,940	90.1	5,430	0.78×
37	Tennessee	$27,480	91.9	10,330	0.65×
38	Nevada	$27,460	100.0	16,830	2.23×
39	Idaho	$27,240	95.5	3,430	0.82×
40	Minnesota	$26,900	98.6	24,420	1.70×
41	Montana	$26,010	94.6	5,370	2.16×
42	Arkansas	$25,090	86.9	3,020	0.48×
43	Oklahoma	$24,790	87.8	5,860	0.70×
44	Wisconsin	$23,460	94.1	29,520	2.06×
45	Georgia	$22,830	96.3	14,600	0.61×
46	Indiana	$22,770	93.3	12,880	0.83×
47	Texas	$22,690	97.1	59,000	0.86×
48	Wyoming	$22,030	92.7	2,660	1.95×
49	Iowa	$21,720	87.8	9,560	1.26×
50	Louisiana	$20,850	88.2	10,140	1.08×
51	South Carolina	$19,370	93.7	10,680	0.95×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where bartenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for bartenders

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$86,280	109.4	800	2.22×
2	Urban Honolulu, HI	$75,340	111.0	2,130	0.98×
3	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$61,220	112.6	38,510	0.83×
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$58,180	111.1	9,640	0.95×
5	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$56,640	102.4	270	1.07×
6	Bellingham, WA	$56,110	103.3	600	1.34×
7	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$55,820	100.1	600	0.95×
8	Portland-South Portland, ME	$54,170	101.9	1,780	1.27×
9	Walla Walla, WA	$54,030	98.5	120	0.96×
10	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$53,810	105.6	560	1.23×
11	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$50,210	100.3	1,100	0.88×
12	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$50,180	103.7	530	0.83×
13	Longview-Kelso, WA	$49,930	97.5	210	1.03×
14	Yakima, WA	$49,700	95.5	350	0.75×
15	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$49,070	100.9	780	1.34×
16	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$48,220	103.9	390	1.58×
17	Charlottesville, VA	$48,210	99.1	650	1.17×
18	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$48,030	108.9	14,560	0.95×
19	Binghamton, NY	$47,950	92.9	640	1.36×
20	Kingston, NY	$47,760	100.7	450	1.55×
21	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$47,370	99.6	1,970	0.90×
22	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$46,940	103.3	10,580	0.92×
23	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$46,920	95.8	2,890	1.11×
24	Syracuse, NY	$46,710	95.7	1,540	1.05×
25	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$46,700	97.9	2,860	0.77×
26	Roanoke, VA	$46,530	93.6	520	0.69×
27	Glens Falls, NY	$46,470	94.9	320	1.30×
28	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$46,320	109.4	1,180	0.90×
29	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$46,290	101.1	1,210	1.47×
30	Richmond, VA	$46,070	97.9	2,110	0.66×
31	Rochester, NY	$45,920	97.0	2,140	0.89×
32	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$45,590	105.4	6,980	1.19×
33	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$45,150	106.9	1,770	0.90×
34	Lewiston-Auburn, ME	$45,040	94.7	180	0.80×
35	Harrisonburg, VA	$44,940	94.9	280	0.87×
36	Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA	$44,620	91.1	180	0.71×
37	Lynchburg, VA	$44,350	89.4	290	0.61×
38	Santa Fe, NM	$44,250	98.8	530	1.76×
39	Ithaca, NY	$44,040	103.3	280	1.21×
40	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$43,950	100.4	900	1.46×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where bartenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.