Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers job market in Michigan

Name: Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in Michigan: occupation-weighted industry context
Creator: JobMarketHealth

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Michigan industry employment changed 0.8 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in Michigan.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitation Evidence record

Occupation pay

What Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers earn in Michigan

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$30,390Michigan

Middle 50% of published wages: $28,390 – $37,450
U.S. median annual wage: $33,980
Reference period: May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Michigan

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, compared with the Michigan median of $30,390.

Michigan median$30,390

Battle Creek, MI$35,810+17.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$29,470 – $36,820Published employment170

Traverse City, MI$35,650+17.3% vs. state

Middle 50%$29,380 – $39,640Published employment290

Ann Arbor, MI$34,830+14.6% vs. state

Middle 50%$29,370 – $39,370Published employment510

Midland, MI$33,020+8.7% vs. state

Middle 50%$28,930 – $37,010Published employment100

Niles, MI$31,160+2.5% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,640 – $37,420Published employment260

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI$30,760+1.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$28,430 – $37,720Published employment6,740

View 10 more published metro areas

Lansing-East Lansing, MI$30,470+0.3% vs. state

Middle 50%$28,370 – $37,670Published employment470

Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI$30,440+0.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$28,600 – $38,060Published employment1,670

Kalamazoo-Portage, MI$30,190−0.7% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,910 – $37,440Published employment340

Monroe, MI$29,470−3.0% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,890 – $36,140Published employment110

Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI$29,300−3.6% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,540 – $35,840Published employment150

Bay City, MI$29,120−4.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$26,260 – $35,890Published employment60

South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI$29,080−4.3% vs. state

Middle 50%$23,850 – $31,030Published employment500

Saginaw, MI$29,010−4.5% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,320 – $35,300Published employment200

Flint, MI$28,950−4.7% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,640 – $36,360Published employment360

Jackson, MI$28,920−4.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,460 – $37,260Published employment160

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Michigan median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Michigan’s weighted industry mix.

+1.6%Industry employmentMichigan industry employmentU.S. +0.8%vs. +0.8% U.S.

+1.0%Establishments in weighted industriesMichigan establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +2.5%vs. +2.5% U.S.

+0.6%Avg. weekly industry wageMichigan avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +2.7% · not occupation payvs. +2.7% U.S. · not occupation pay

+0.8 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 26,064 represented establishments, 86.12% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in Michigan

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market

Median annual pay of $35,810 puts Battle Creek, MI at the top of the published pay estimates for Michigan-associated metros with usable employment figures in OEWS May 2025. Its employment estimate is 170. The largest employment market, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, has 6,740 estimated jobs and median pay of $30,760. The comparison covers 15 metros, and the highest-paying metro's median is 16.4% higher than the largest market's. Market size describes existing jobs, not available vacancies.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Some metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.

Leisure and hospitality has the largest positive weighted contribution

The largest positive weighted contribution to the industry employment-growth proxy in Michigan comes from Leisure and hospitality in January to March 2026. Its share of positive weighted contributions is 86.8%, and its own year-over-year employment change is +1.6%. Each leading industry group is weighted using this occupation's national industry mix, of which the groups examined cover 98.9%. This is a proxy comparison, not a count of occupation jobs created.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Published median pay is below the U.S. median

The OEWS May 2025 estimates put median annual pay for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers at $30,390 in Michigan and $33,980 nationally. The state median is 10.6% lower. Living costs are not included in this comparison, and individual workers' pay varies.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Michigan industry employment over time

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values

Michigan · 2026 Q1+1.6%
U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.8%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value

Quarterly Michigan industry employment changes and coverage
Quarter	Michigan	Coverage
2024 Q2	+1.7%	100%
2024 Q3	+1.1%	100%
2024 Q4	+1.6%	100%
2025 Q1	+1.4%	100%
2025 Q2	+1.2%	100%
2025 Q3	+0.8%	100%
2025 Q4	+0.9%	100%
2026 Q1	+1.6%	100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Michigan’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters: 8
Earliest quarter: 2024 Q2
Latest quarter: 2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark: +0.8%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers Work

The occupation mix determines which Michigan industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Michigan Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers context
Industry group	Occupation mix	Employment change	Establishments	Avg. weekly industry wage
Leisure and hospitality	86.1%	+1.6%	26,064	$555
Private education and health services	9.1%	+2.0%	41,872	$1,242
Professional and business services	1.4%	0.0%	65,186	$2,036
State and local	0.9%	+0.6%	6,231	$1,299
Trade, transportation, and utilities	0.7%	-0.7%	55,698	$1,258
Other services	0.6%	+3.0%	27,517	$943

Which industries are growing?

4 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Michigan employment change are listed.

Other services+3.0%
Private education and health services+2.0%
Leisure and hospitality+1.6%
State and local+0.6%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Michigan context

Current Michigan Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Michigan. They are not Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Michigan

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

102.8Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026

+2.8%Versus the February 2020 baseline

+1.1%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index

Indeed postings index
Observation date	Index (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026	102.15
Jul 31, 2026	101.50
Aug 7, 2026	101.09
Aug 14, 2026	100.74
Aug 21, 2026	101.06
Aug 28, 2026	101.87
Sep 4, 2026	101.51
Sep 11, 2026	101.58
Sep 18, 2026	101.36
Sep 25, 2026	101.70
Oct 2, 2026	101.91
Oct 9, 2026	102.01
Oct 16, 2026	102.89
Oct 23, 2026	102.85

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in Michigan FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in Michigan?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Michigan industries weighted to Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers changed +1.6% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.8% nationwide.

Are wages for Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers rising in Michigan?

QCEW does not publish pay for Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +0.6% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Michigan industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation: Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers
SOC code: 35-9011
State: Michigan
QCEW release label: QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period: 2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year: +1.6%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year: +0.8%
Difference from U.S. benchmark: +0.8 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year: +1.0%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year: +0.6%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage: EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date: Aug 28, 2026
Source verification: Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL: https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/dining-room-and-cafeteria-attendants-and-bartender-helpers/michigan#evidence-record
Derived by: JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Methodology BLS QCEW How to cite QCEW state context release, 2026 Q1

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.