Restaurant Server Real Earnings
What you actually keep per hour from serving, once tip-out and costs are taken off.
Part of the 🍽️ Restaurant Servers toolkit, with more tools made for the job.
🍽️ Restaurant server
What you pass on to bar, bussers and others. Leave empty for none.
Every hour, including waiting, travelling and admin.
What you spend per week to earn it
Shows what you keep from each table.
Rules on food hygiene certificates, serving alcohol, wages and how tips are shared differ by country and place, so check yours before you start.
Type what you bring in and the hours you spend, and what you really earn an hour appears here.
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Type what you bring in each week from wages and tips together, the share of your tips you tip out, the hours you are there and your weekly costs. This shows what you really earn per hour and per month.
A server's pay looks good on a busy night and is easy to overestimate. The tips you count are not all yours, because you tip out to the bar, the bussers and the runners. The hours you work are more than the hours at your tables, because setting up, side work and closing take time too. And you pay to get to work, and to keep a clean uniform. Once you subtract the tip-out and costs and divide by every hour you are there, the real hourly figure is what you can compare with other jobs.
How it’s worked out
- Start with what you bring in each week, wages and tips together, before you tip out.
- The share you tip out is taken off, as a percentage of what you typed. Your weekly costs are taken off after that.
- Real hourly pay is what you keep divided by every hour you are at work, including side work, setting up and closing.
- Per month is the weekly figure times about 4.33. Per table, if you give the number of tables, is what you keep divided by the tables.
Bringing in 650 a week over 30 hours looks like 21.67 an hour. Tipping out 20 percent leaves 520, and 25 of travel and uniform costs leaves 495. That is 16.50 an hour for real, about 2,145 a month.
Common mistakes
- Counting only the hours at tables. Side work, setting up and closing are hours you spend too, so include them.
- Using your best week. Tips vary a lot, so use an average of several weeks.
- Forgetting what you tip out. It comes off what you earned, so the figure on your tips alone overstates your pay.
- Leaving out the costs. Travel, uniform cleaning and replacing shoes are real and recur.
Questions
Should I include the tip-out?
Yes. Type the share of your tips you pass on to others, such as the bar and bussers. If your restaurant takes a share of sales instead, the tip-out calculator works out what it comes to, and you can type that as a share of your tips here.
Which hours should I count?
Every hour you are at work for the job: setting up, serving, side work and closing. The more honest the hours, the more useful the answer.
Is tax taken off?
No, the result is before tax. How wages and tips are taxed differs by place, so check yours.
Where do I go from here?
Compare the shifts you can pick to find the best one, or track your tips for a few shifts to see your average. The links below the tool lead there.
Estimates only
These are estimates and general information, not legal, tax or employment advice. Wages, tipping customs, tip-out and pooling rules, and tax on tips differ by country, state and restaurant, so use your own figures and your restaurant's written policy, and check the rules where you live.
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