Fast food and counter workers
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.
Fast food and counter workers 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. The role reports a median annual salary of $30,480 in the US and is projected to grow 6% over the next decade (about as fast as average). Entry typically requires a No formal educational credential, and shows moderate AI exposure (0.62 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include Coordination, Service Orientation, Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness, Monitoring.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £22,886 a year for Kitchen and catering assistants (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £18,811 to £26,766 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 9263). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Service and sales workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only Fast food and counter workers, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 5. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Food Production
- Mathematics
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Sales and Marketing
- Production and Processing
A day in the life
You clock in before the lunch rush, check that the counter is stocked and wash your hands before putting on gloves. As customers arrive, you greet them, take their orders at the register and repeat each order back so nothing is missed. You call orders to the kitchen, then assemble trays with burgers, fries and drinks, handing them over with a smile. When the queue grows, you work quickly but carefully, taking payments and giving correct change. A customer complains that her order is wrong, so you apologise, fix it and let your supervisor know. Between rushes you wipe tables, restock napkins and sauces, and clean the drinks station. In the afternoon you help prepare food for the evening. At the end of your shift you count the cash in your register and make sure it balances with the receipts. The pace is hectic and the work repetitive, but a friendly team makes busy shifts go quickly.
Illustrative: one typical day, written from the O*NET task statements for this occupation. Real days vary by employer and seniority.
What you'd actually do
- Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary.
- Serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food.
- Request and record customer orders, and compute bills, using cash registers, multi-counting machines, or pencil and paper.
- Balance receipts and payments in cash registers.
- Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints.
- Serve food, beverages, or desserts to customers in such settings as take-out counters of restaurants or lunchrooms, business or industrial establishments, hotel rooms, and cars.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does Fast food and counter workers do?
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.
What does a typical day look like in Fast food and counter workers?
You clock in before the lunch rush, check that the counter is stocked and wash your hands before putting on gloves. As customers arrive, you greet them, take their orders at the register and repeat each order back so nothing is missed. You call orders to the kitchen, then assemble trays with burgers, fries and drinks, handing them over with a smile. When the queue grows, you work quickly but carefully, taking payments and giving correct change.
How much does Fast food and counter workers earn?
The median annual salary for Fast food and counter workers in the US is $30,480.
What is the job outlook for Fast food and counter workers?
The role is projected to grow 6% over the next decade (about as fast as average). Current US employment is approximately 3,796,000 workers.
How do I become fast food and counter workers?
The typical entry education is a No formal educational credential. Building a foundation in the top skills below will strengthen your application.
What skills does Fast food and counter workers need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include Coordination, Service Orientation, Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness, Monitoring, Speaking. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace Fast food and counter workers?
Our AI-durability model gives Fast food and counter workers a score of 0.62 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.
How hard is it to enter this field?
Fast food and counter workers has low barrier to entry — generally accessible — you can enter with basic credentials and on-the-job learning.