Table 6
Wage penalty of restaurant work, overall and by demographic group, 2014
| Median hourly wage outside of restaurant industry | Median hourly wage in restaurant industry | Raw difference | Median hourly wage outside of restaurant industry for workers similar to restaurant workers* | Wage penalty of restaurant work | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | $18.00 | $10.00 | -44.5% | $12.07 | -17.2% |
| Gender | |||||
| Female | $16.34 | $9.50 | -41.9% | $11.31 | -16.0% |
| Male | $19.77 | $10.15 | -48.7% | $12.82 | -20.9% |
| Nativity | |||||
| U.S. born | $18.51 | $9.86 | -46.7% | $12.17 | -19.0% |
| Naturalized U.S. citizen | $19.07 | $11.16 | -41.5% | $14.20 | -21.4% |
| Non-naturalized immigrant | $13.19 | $9.90 | -24.9% | $11.25 | -12.0% |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||
| White, non-Hispanic | $19.71 | $10.07 | -48.9% | $12.77 | -21.1% |
| Black, non-Hispanic | $15.00 | $9.14 | -39.1% | $11.05 | -17.3% |
| Hispanic, any race | $14.00 | $9.67 | -31.0% | $11.16 | -13.4% |
| Asian | $21.52 | $10.55 | -51.0% | $12.82 | -17.7% |
| Other | $16.00 | $9.71 | -39.3% | $11.11 | -12.6% |
| Education | |||||
| Not a high school graduate | $10.69 | $8.50 | -20.5% | $9.54 | -10.9% |
| High school graduate | $15.00 | $9.89 | -34.1% | $12.33 | -19.8% |
| Some college | $16.16 | $10.25 | -36.6% | $12.33 | -16.9% |
| Bachelor’s degree | $24.66 | $14.71 | -40.3% | $22.50 | -34.6% |
| Advanced degree | $31.70 | $17.13 | -46.0% | $30.44 | -43.7% |
| Age | |||||
| 16–24 | $10.15 | $8.67 | -14.6% | $9.77 | -11.3% |
| 25–54 | $19.41 | $11.16 | -42.5% | $15.22 | -26.7% |
| 55+ | $20.00 | $11.38 | -43.1% | $15.61 | -27.1% |
Note: The wage penalty is the difference between the hourly wages earned by a restaurant industry worker and those earned by a demographically similar worker in another industry. To ensure sufficient sample sizes, this table draws from pooled 2011Q3–2014Q2 microdata. Hourly wages include tips.
* See endnote four for methodology.
Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata
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