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Average Waiters And Waitresses Salary in Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

Waiters And Waitresses in Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN earn a median annual salary of $36,530, which is +3.7% compared to the national median. There are 17,790 workers employed locally in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN (metro area).

$36,530
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN median annual wage
$18/hour median
+3.7%
Difference vs national median
National median is $35,230
17,790
Local employment
16.2 jobs per 1,000 workers
1.11
Location quotient
Above 1.00 means the occupation is more concentrated here than nationally
Pay distribution

Local wage range

10th
$23,280
25th
$29,260
Median
$36,530
75th
$49,640
90th
$74,040

All values are percentiles of annual wages.

This local range is the useful part of the page. The median tells you the center of the market in Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN, while the percentile band shows how compressed or wide the local pay distribution actually is.

Regional price parity

Cost-of-living context

All-items regional price parity
95.4%
Exact metro RPP match
Median wage adjusted to the national price level
$38,303
Goods: 93.8%
Services: 91.0%
Rents: 87.6%
Comparison links

Comparable metros for this occupation

Metro Median annual wage Compare Employment
Kahului-Wailuku, HI $82,550 Compare 2,700
Burlington-South Burlington, VT $61,620 Compare 1,510
Urban Honolulu, HI $60,250 Compare 8,550
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA $57,280 Compare 26,530
Walla Walla, WA $56,730 Compare 340
Bellingham, WA $56,700 Compare 1,450

The point of this table is not random nearby places. It is to show the other labor markets where this same occupation looks stronger or weaker on the same OEWS release.

Area context

Top occupations in Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

Occupation Median annual wage LQ
Cardiologists $551,320 1.70
Surgeons, All Other $437,390 0.84
Anesthesiologists $419,600 1.18
Airline Pilots, Copilots, And Flight Engineers $350,950 4.54
Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric $334,250 N/A
Emergency Medicine Physicians $333,290 1.03
Physicians, Pathologists $317,890 2.40
Physicians, All Other $315,630 1.31

Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN has salary data for 657 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Cardiologists.

Historical series

Trend for Waiters And Waitresses in Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

Historical trend data is not yet available for this occupation in this area.

Interpretation

Outlook and page notes

Nationally, Waiters And Waitresses are projected to change by -0.7% from 2024 to 2034, with 456,700 annual openings.

Use this page to answer three separate questions: what the occupation pays here, how large the local market is, and whether this market is unusually concentrated for the occupation.

For metro pages in particular, read long-term trend rows as directional until the area comparability layer is fully wired. OEWS area definitions can change over time, and that matters more at the metro level than at the state level.