PAY BY JOB

Bartender pay, for employers

What bartenders earn, from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) medians, what one costs to employ, how the job is paid and whether overtime is owed.

Wages: BLS medians for May 2025. Pay and overtime rules checked on October 6, 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page. For employers. General information, not legal or tax advice: federal rules only, and a state's law can require more.

Bartender pay at a glance

Median a year: $34,340
Median an hour: $16.51
BLS period: May 2025
Federal overtime: Owed after 40 hours

What bartenders earn

National median: $34,340 a year, $16.51 an hour (May 2025)BLS occupation: Bartenders (SOC 35-3011).Source: BLS OEWS May 2025, national, Bartenders, all industries: annual median, series OEUN000000000000035301113 (BLS data API, JSON) (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026; BLS OEWS May 2025, national, Bartenders, all industries: hourly median, series OEUN000000000000035301108 (BLS data API, JSON) (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
What the median covers: For bartenders the median includes tips.BLS medians include base rate; cost-of-living allowances; guaranteed pay; hazardous-duty pay; incentive pay, including commissions and production bonuses; and tips.They leave out overtime pay; severance pay; shift differentials; nonproduction bonuses; employer cost for supplementary benefits; and tuition reimbursements.The annual figure is the hourly median times 2,080 hours.Source: BLS, May 2025 OEWS Estimates: technical notes (opens in a new tab), read from an archived copy dated August 30, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Median pay by state

BLS medians for bartenders in each state and DC, May 2025.

State	Median a year	Median an hour
Alabama	$27,980	$13.45
Alaska	$30,460	$14.65
Arizona	$45,070	$21.67
Arkansas	$25,090	$12.06
California	$36,220	$17.41
Colorado	$38,170	$18.35
Connecticut	$38,780	$18.64
Delaware	$36,840	$17.71
District of Columbia	$53,920	$25.92
Florida	$35,150	$16.90
Georgia	$22,830	$10.98
Hawaii	$76,490	$36.78
Idaho	$27,240	$13.10
Illinois	$31,200	$15.00
Indiana	$22,770	$10.95
Iowa	$21,720	$10.44
Kansas	$27,940	$13.43
Kentucky	$28,780	$13.84
Louisiana	$20,850	$10.02
Maine	$48,920	$23.52
Maryland	$37,580	$18.07
Massachusetts	$37,440	$18.00
Michigan	$36,780	$17.68
Minnesota	$26,900	$12.93
Mississippi	$28,320	$13.62
Missouri	$30,090	$14.47
Montana	$26,010	$12.51
Nebraska	$30,180	$14.51
Nevada	$27,460	$13.20
New Hampshire	$28,800	$13.85
New Jersey	$44,020	$21.16
New Mexico	$36,980	$17.78
New York	$61,210	$29.43
North Carolina	$36,470	$17.53
North Dakota	$29,040	$13.96
Ohio	$30,880	$14.84
Oklahoma	$24,790	$11.92
Oregon	$38,900	$18.70
Pennsylvania	$28,420	$13.66
Rhode Island	$36,410	$17.51
South Carolina	$19,370	$9.31
South Dakota	$29,400	$14.14
Tennessee	$27,480	$13.21
Texas	$22,690	$10.91
Utah	$32,150	$15.46
Vermont	$45,450	$21.85
Virginia	$47,070	$22.63
Washington	$55,830	$26.84
West Virginia	$29,630	$14.24
Wisconsin	$23,460	$11.28
Wyoming	$22,030	$10.59

Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimates (oesm25st.zip) (opens in a new tab), read from an archived copy dated October 4, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

What one costs to employ

The national median as the year's gross wages, plus your Social Security, Medicare and FUTA. Enter your state unemployment rate and wage base, workers' comp rate, benefits and overhead for your own figure.

The median includes tips. Customers pay the tips, but your Social Security, Medicare and FUTA are owed on reported tips too (IRS Publication 15, section 6), so the tax lines below use the full median. The wages you pay are the median less the tips.

WORKED EXAMPLE

One year: a bartender at the national median, $34,340 (BLS, May 2025)

26 U.S.C. §§3111, 3301

Gross wagesFor the year, all subject to FICA and FUTA

Social Security, employer share6.2% of wages up to $184,500 (2026)

$2,129.08

Medicare, employer share1.45% of all wages

$497.93

FUTA0.6% of the first $7,000, with the full 5.4% credit

$42.00

State unemploymentYour assigned rate, on your state’s wage base

%on$

Workers’ compensationYour insurer’s rate per $100 of payroll

BenefitsYour share of premiums and retirement contributions

OverheadEquipment, training, and other costs you assign

Wages: $34,340.00Employer taxes and comp: $2,669.01Benefits and overhead: $0.00

Cost of the employee$37,009.01For the year

On top of wages$2,669.01

Multiple of wages1.08×

Adding the employee’s withheld FICA would count $2,627.01 twiceThe employee’s share comes out of the wages you already counted; only your matching share adds cost.

$2,627.01counted twice

Employer cost of one employee for calendar year 2026: 6.2% Social Security on wages up to $184,500 (2026), 1.45% Medicare, and FUTA at 0.6% of the first $7,000 a year with the full 5.4% credit, plus the state unemployment, workers’ compensation, benefits, and overhead you enter, with all wages subject to FICA and FUTA. It leaves out credit reduction states, pay that FICA or FUTA excludes, such as your health plan contributions, and how the cost spreads across pay periods. Other cases and state law can change the result.

State unemployment rates and wage bases: Payroll tax rates by state

How bartenders are paid

Each way of paying the job, with the federal rule for its regular rate and overtime. Where the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook says how the job is paid, its words are quoted.

Hourly: Paid by the hour. When the hourly rate is the only pay and no tip credit is taken, it is the regular rate; with a tip credit, the regular rate also includes the credit. Each hour over 40 in the workweek earns half the regular rate on top.Source: 29 CFR 778.110 (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026; 29 CFR 531.60 (opens in a new tab)
Tips: Tips belong to the employee. An employer that tells the employee it takes the federal tip credit pays at least $2.13 an hour in cash wages and counts tips toward the rest of the minimum wage, and no employer may keep tips. Employees report cash tips by the 10th of the next month, and the employer withholds on them from wages or other funds the employee makes available, as supplemental wages or, at its option, as regular wages.BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: “These wage data include tips. Tipped employees earn at least the federal minimum wage, which may be paid as a combination of direct wages and tips, depending on the state.”Source: 29 CFR 531.50 (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026; 29 U.S.C. 203 (opens in a new tab); IRS Publication 15 (2026), sections 6 and 7 (opens in a new tab); BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Pay (opens in a new tab), read from an archived copy dated September 30, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Overtime

Owed after 40 hours: Owed: time and a half after 40 hours. With a tip credit, the regular rate includes the credit, so overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage; tips beyond the credit stay out of it.Federal rule only: a state's overtime law can require more.Source: 29 CFR 531.60 (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026; 29 U.S.C. 207 (opens in a new tab)

Industry and workers' comp

HCM industry: Restaurants: Multi-location hospitality
Workers' comp class codes: Class codes that commonly cover bartenders, on Worklio Insurance. The class depends on your business and the manual filed in your state.9082 Restaurants9058 Hotel restaurant staffAll class codes on Worklio Insurance

WORKLIO HCM

Run payroll for bartenders in Worklio HCM

Payroll, tax, HR, time, and benefits administration run on one 50-state engine, for companies with 50 to 50,000+ employees. Approve once: hours flow in from time tracking, deductions from benefits, and every pay run posts taxes, filings, comp premiums and the general ledger automatically. For restaurants: tip pooling and reporting, with allocations imported from POS, tip credit rules with minimum wage checks by state, and the FICA tip credit reported.

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Other jobs

Restaurant server$35,230 a year
Restaurant cook$37,390 a year
All 41 jobs

Sources

The data series, regulation or document behind each figure and rule, as checked.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements with the relevant agency or your advisor. You remain responsible for how you classify and pay each employee.

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