Best cities for waiters
Most waiters expect a 20% tip for good service, but does this actually happen? According to data collected from Americans using digital payment service Square, the average tip in the United States is just 16.1%.
Waiters across the country made $20,880 on average in 2013. In all of the best cities for waiters, workers waiting tables earned at least $25,000 in 2013, or roughly half of the average wage in their city.
Households in the best cities for waiters often have high median incomes. In four of these cities, households earned median incomes of at least $62,000 in 2013, well above the national median of $52,250 that year.
In other instances, laws governing how waiters are paid dictate the amount of money they bring home. In 43 states, employees who regularly receive tips are only required to be paid $2.13 an hour. Waiters expect tips to bring average hourly earnings above the state's effective hourly minimum wage of at least $7.25. If the combination of wages and tips does not exceed $7.25 an hour, the employer is expected to pay the difference.
In other states, waiters are required to be paid the minimum wage. Four of the best cities for waiters are located in Washington, which has the highest minimum wage in the country and requires that waiters be paid at least $9.32 per hour.
In some areas, the amount that people tip does not seem to matter as much as the frequency with which people tip. In fact, half of the cities on this list are located in states where people tip more often than the national average of 55.6% of the time.
To determine the best cities for waiters, 24/7 Wall St. looked at the average annual wage for waiters in each city relative to the national average. Average annual wages are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and are calculated under the assumption that waiters work full time. We also looked at regional price parity from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and median household income from the Census Bureau. Employment and wage data are as of May 2013. All other data cover the 2013 calendar year.
These are the best cities for waiters.
1. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
Annual mean wage: $29,410
Waiter wage exceeds national average: 40.9%
Waiter jobs per 1,000 jobs: 15.0 (79th lowest)
Waiters in Seattle earned an annualized wage of nearly $30,000 in 2013, the highest amount in the country, 40% more than their counterparts nationwide. Like in many of the states represented by this list, Washington tippers are not overly generous. In 2013, the average tip in Washington was 15.9%. Instead, waiters benefit from the high volume of tips — more than 60% — and high median incomes, which were roughly $68,000 in Seattle in 2013.
2. Burlington-South Burlington, Vt.
Annual mean wage: $29,160
Waiter wage exceeds national average: 39.7%
Waiter jobs per 1,000 jobs: 17.3 (158th lowest)
Waiters in Burlington earned $29,160 last year, the second highest amount in the country. Relative to other workers in the area, waiters earned nearly 59% of the average wage, and out-earned waiters across the country by nearly 40%.
3. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.
Annual mean wage: $28,070
Waiter wage exceeds national average: 34.4%
Waiter jobs per 1,000 jobs: 18.9 (168th highest)
The 33,000 waiters in the Boston metro area benefit from the region's high median household income, which was more than $20,000 above the national benchmark in 2013. And while waiters earned only 41.5% of the average income in Boston, the typical waiter made 34% more than waiters nationwide.
4. Spokane, Wash.
Annual mean wage: $27,340
Waiter wage exceeds national average: 30.9%
Waiter jobs per 1,000 jobs: 12.4 (28th lowest)
While few in number — only 12 out of every 1,000 jobs in Spokane are waiters — waiters in the area benefit from consistent tippers, as more than 60% of patrons tipped when it was expected in 2013. Spokane residents may decide to visit restaurants more often, and increase waiters' tipped income, as prices are generally less expensive than in the rest of the country.
5. Bellingham, Wash.
Annual mean wage: $27,130
Waiter wage exceeds national average: 29.9%
Waiter jobs per 1,000 jobs: 22.7 (69th highest)
Waiters in Bellingham earned more than $27,000 in 2013, roughly 30% more than waiters nationwide, despite area households earning less than the rest of the nation. The relative higher earnings among waiters may be the result of Washington's state law requiring that tipped employees be paid at least the minimum wage. At $10.75 an hour, it is the highest minimum wage in the country.
24/7 Wall St. is a Paste BN content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of Paste BN.