New Association report provides a demographic profile of the restaurant workforce

The restaurant and foodservice industry is the nation’s second largest private sector employer, providing 15.7 million jobs – or 10% of the total U.S. workforce. 

This includes 12.5 million jobs at eating and drinking places, plus an estimated 3.2 million foodservice jobs in other sectors such as healthcare, accommodations, education, food-and-beverage stores, and arts, entertainment and recreation. 

A new National Restaurant Association Data Brief provides a detailed profile of the employees that work in these 15.7 million jobs. Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the report contains demographic snapshots for seven restaurant occupations, as well as the overall industry workforce. 

In general, restaurant and foodservice employees tend to be younger and more diverse than the overall U.S. workforce.

This holds true across all occupations, including managers and supervisors. As a result, the restaurant industry employs more minority and female managers than any other sector in the economy.  

Restaurant and foodservice employees are also three times more likely than the total U.S. workforce to be under the age of 25. 

Other highlights: 

• 27% of restaurant employees are enrolled in school.
• More than 6 in 10 restaurant employees have never been married.
• Only 1 in 3 restaurant employees are heads of their household.
• 22% of restaurant employees were born outside of the United States.
• 3 in 10 restaurant employees speak a language other than English at home. 

The restaurant and foodservice workforce will continue to grow in the years ahead, with the Association expecting the total number of employees to reach 17.4 million by 2035. Download the Association’s 2025 State of the Restaurant Industry report for the latest workforce trends, including the recruitment strategies that operators found to be the most successful in recent months.