A server in Kahului-Wailuku has a median wage of $82,550. In Southwest Louisiana nonmetropolitan area the median is $15,080. That is a 5.47-fold difference for the same job title, which is unusually wide even by the standards of a country this large — and it means a national average for this role is close to meaningless.
The top tenth of servers earn $64,720 or more; the bottom tenth earn under $18,100. That is a 3.58× gap within the same occupation, in the same year. A spread this wide means the job title is not what determines pay — specialisation, employer type, seniority or book of business is. Expect the early years to sit near the bottom of the band rather than the middle, and treat the $35,230 median as a waypoint, not a destination.
5 of the ten best-paying metros for servers are in WA. When one state dominates the top of the table like this, cost of living is doing part of the work but rarely all of it — state licensing rules, public-sector pay scales and the presence of a few large employers usually explain the rest. If you are comparing an offer in WA against one elsewhere, adjust for housing before concluding anything.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kahului-Wailuku HI | $82,550 | $39.69 | 2.5 | 2,700 |
| Hawaii / Kauai nonmetropolitan area | $63,690 | $30.62 | 1.84 | 2,840 |
| Burlington-South Burlington VT | $61,620 | $29.63 | 0.86 | 1,510 |
| Urban Honolulu HI | $60,250 | $28.96 | 1.31 | 8,550 |
| Northern Vermont nonmetropolitan area | $60,110 | $28.90 | 0.95 | 1,240 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | $57,280 | $27.54 | 0.87 | 26,530 |
| Walla Walla WA | $56,730 | $27.27 | 0.9 | 340 |
| Bellingham WA | $56,700 | $27.26 | 1.09 | 1,450 |
| Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard WA | $55,270 | $26.57 | 1 | 1,370 |
| Longview-Kelso WA | $54,870 | $26.38 | 0.68 | 410 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro OR-WA | $54,780 | $26.34 | 0.79 | 13,910 |
| Mount Vernon-Anacortes WA | $53,060 | $25.51 | 1.08 | 830 |
| Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater WA | $53,000 | $25.48 | 0.74 | 1,410 |
| Kennewick-Richland WA | $51,460 | $24.74 | 0.8 | 1,510 |
| Bend OR | $50,480 | $24.27 | 1.11 | 1,750 |
| Eastern Washington nonmetropolitan area | $50,460 | $24.26 | 0.85 | 1,350 |
| Medford OR | $50,440 | $24.25 | 0.87 | 1,130 |
| Boulder CO | $49,870 | $23.97 | 0.95 | 2,670 |
| Wenatchee-East Wenatchee WA | $49,820 | $23.95 | 1.28 | 960 |
| Yakima WA | $49,060 | $23.59 | 0.71 | 1,000 |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy NY | $48,980 | $23.55 | 0.96 | 6,310 |
| Grants Pass OR | $48,950 | $23.54 | 0.74 | 330 |
| Salem OR | $48,720 | $23.42 | 0.67 | 1,850 |
| Spokane-Spokane Valley WA | $48,560 | $23.35 | 0.91 | 3,420 |
| Western Washington nonmetropolitan area | $48,090 | $23.12 | 1.17 | 2,220 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Louisiana nonmetropolitan area | $15,080 | $7.25 | 0.62 | 720 |
| Central Louisiana nonmetropolitan area | $15,080 | $7.25 | 0.79 | 900 |
| Slidell-Mandeville-Covington LA | $15,080 | $7.25 | 1.76 | 2,520 |
| Shreveport-Bossier City LA | $15,080 | $7.25 | 1.1 | 2,620 |
| Monroe LA | $15,080 | $7.25 | 1.07 | 1,370 |
| Lake Charles LA | $15,080 | $7.25 | 1.31 | 1,950 |
| Lafayette LA | $15,080 | $7.25 | 1.3 | 3,410 |
| Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux LA | $15,080 | $7.25 | 0.99 | 1,210 |
| Hammond LA | $15,080 | $7.25 | 1.5 | 1,050 |
| Baton Rouge LA | $15,080 | $7.25 | 1.11 | 6,650 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach SC | $17,350 | $8.34 | 2.99 | 6,390 |
| Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal SC | $19,830 | $9.53 | 2.84 | 3,390 |
| South Florida nonmetropolitan area | $36,900 | $17.74 | 2.77 | 3,540 |
| Naples-Marco Island FL | $37,550 | $18.05 | 2.6 | 6,610 |
| Kahului-Wailuku HI | $82,550 | $39.69 | 2.5 | 2,700 |
| Atlantic City-Hammonton NJ | $38,160 | $18.35 | 2.46 | 6,070 |
| Daphne-Fairhope-Foley AL | $27,080 | $13.02 | 2.45 | 3,120 |
| Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin FL | $37,370 | $17.96 | 2.43 | 4,430 |
| Flagstaff AZ | $37,080 | $17.83 | 2.27 | 2,210 |
| Brunswick-St. Simons GA | $18,250 | $8.77 | 2.21 | 1,510 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas NV | $27,110 | $13.03 | 2.18 | 36,160 |
| Barnstable Town MA | $38,380 | $18.45 | 2.16 | 2,970 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $47,610 | $22.89 | 1 | 138,720 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $35,850 | $17.24 | 0.93 | 85,210 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | $36,070 | $17.34 | 1.4 | 57,830 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $31,200 | $15.00 | 0.82 | 54,100 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $24,160 | $11.61 | 0.9 | 53,460 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $22,080 | $10.61 | 1.07 | 51,330 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | $46,040 | $22.14 | 1.01 | 46,160 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell GA | $18,460 | $8.88 | 1.09 | 45,880 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $36,570 | $17.58 | 0.99 | 41,900 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $39,270 | $18.88 | 1.05 | 41,570 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ | $47,530 | $22.85 | 1.15 | 39,920 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford FL | $35,410 | $17.03 | 1.79 | 36,820 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 35-3031. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates cover 527 of 528 metropolitan areas — near-complete coverage, which means the ranges above are reliable rather than drawn from a handful of markets. Read the methodology.