About How Much Does a Waitress Make a Month?

The link between kitchen and dining room, waitresses provide the human touch to the food service industry. They, along with their male counterparts, waiters, greet customers, show them to their seats, take orders and convey completed orders to the table. They respond to customer inquiries and ensure the customer's dining experience is as enjoyable as possible. Monthly pay rates for waitresses can be calculated from annual salary statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other wage analysis organizations.

Average Pay

For the purposes of its national employment survey carried out in May 2010, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics classified waitresses alongside their male equivalents, waiters. It collated wage data from over two million waiters and waitresses working across the country and reported that the mean annual wage was $20,970. From this it can be calculated that the mean monthly pay was $1,733. At the time of publication, figures published by wage comparison Indeed.com put the average monthly wage for a waitress working in the United States as $1,667. Waitresses are also likely to receive additional payment in the form of customer tips.

Pay by Industry

The bureau's survey showed that the greatest number of waiting staff worked within full-service restaurants. From its figures, the mean monthly pay within this sector of the food and beverage service industry was $1,717. For those working within traveler accommodations -- hotels, motels and resorts -- the rate was $2,017. Waitresses working within limited-service eating places earned a mean monthly wage of $1,557, while positions within establishments serving alcoholic beverages paid a mean of $1,615.

Pay by Location

Location also affects the amount of money a waitress takes home at the end of each month. The bureau listed the District of Columbia as the area in which a waitress or waiter was likely to receive the highest compensation rates, a mean of $2,479 a month. Vermont and Massachusetts completed the top three states at $2,372 and $2,356, respectively. California and Florida had almost identical pay rates -- $1,723 and $1,718, respectively -- while North Dakota had a monthly mean of just $1,467.

Outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment opportunities will increase over the decade from 2008 to 2018, but slower than the growth rate for the nation as a whole across all occupations -- put at between 7 and 13 percent over the same period. Expansion of the food service industry to meet the demands of an expanding population will be counterbalanced by a growing proportion of people choosing take-out services over restaurants and cafeterias. As a result, monthly wage levels for waitresses are unlikely to rise significantly in the immediate future.