Occupational Employment Statistics

DETAILED OCCUPATION DATA

35-3023 Fast Food and Counter Workers

Occupational Description:
Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table. May take payment. May prepare food and beverages. Counter attendants who also wait tables are included in ?Waiters and Waitresses? (35-3031),

Occupational Employment Statistics(OES) Wage Data
First Quarter 2026

Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Percentiles
Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Mean	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
Minnesota	58,970	3,243	$16.00/hr	$13.89/hr	$14.41/hr	$15.46/hr	$17.57/hr	$18.31/hr

Leading Industries for Fast Food and Counter Workers

Industry	OES Employment (Statewide)	OES Median Wage (Statewide)
Manufacturing	280	$16.70/hr
Trade, Transportation and Utilities	3,870	$16.70/hr
Information	630	$12.39/hr
Professional and Business Services	130	$17.07/hr
Education and Health Services	630	$17.31/hr
Leisure and Hospitality	52,790	$15.39/hr
Other Services	N/A	N/A
Public Administration	560	$19.60/hr

Other Regional Data for Fast Food and Counter Workers

Geography	Employment	Median Wage	Projections % Change 2022-2032
Northeast Balance of State	1,220	$14.66/hr	N/A
Grand Forks ND-MN MSA	1,490	$14.56/hr	N/A
Mankato-North Mankato MN MSA	1,860	$14.79/hr	N/A
La Crosse WI-MN MSA	1,960	$13.93/hr	N/A
St Cloud MN MSA	2,120	$14.63/hr	N/A
Southwest Balance of State	2,370	$14.62/hr	N/A
Rochester MN MSA	2,550	$15.37/hr	N/A
Duluth MN-WI MSA	2,910	$14.43/hr	N/A
Northeast Minnesota	3,220	$14.49/hr	4.3%
Fargo ND-MN MSA	4,090	$15.26/hr	N/A
Southeast Balance of State	4,220	$14.59/hr	N/A
Southwest Minnesota	4,260	$14.68/hr	3.9%
Northwest Balance of State	4,380	$14.54/hr	N/A
Northwest Minnesota	5,240	$14.54/hr	4.2%
Southeast Minnesota	5,990	$15.03/hr	4.2%
Central Minnesota	6,530	$15.26/hr	4.7%
Seven County Mpls-St Paul, MN	33,230	$16.38/hr	4.0%
Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington MN-WI MSA	37,920	$16.29/hr	N/A
Minnesota	58,970	$15.46/hr	4.2%

Related Occupations

Occupations	Employment	Median Wage	Projections % Change 2022-2032
Waiters and Waitresses	37,630	$12.56/hr	0.1%
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop	7,150	$14.89/hr	3.0%
Cashiers	58,190	$16.80/hr	-6.8%
Cooks, Short Order	870	$15.85/hr	6.0%
Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers	1,880	$16.50/hr	6.9%
Food Preparation Workers	24,620	$17.18/hr	-6.3%

Task for Fast Food and Counter Workers

Prepare or serve hot or cold beverages, such as coffee, espresso drinks, blended coffees, or teas.
Receive and process customer payments.
Take customer orders and convey them to other employees for preparation.
Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary.
Serve prepared foods, such as muffins, biscotti, or bagels.
Distribute food to servers.
Describe menu items to customers or suggest products that might appeal to them.
Request and record customer orders, and compute bills using cash registers, multi counting machines, or pencil and paper.
Prepare and serve cold drinks, or frozen milk drinks or desserts, using drink-dispensing, milkshake, or frozen custard machines.
Brew coffee and tea, and fill containers with requested beverages.