Fast food and counter workers job market in Alabama
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
Alabama industry employment changed 2.0 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Fast food and counter workers in Alabama.
Occupation pay
What Fast food and counter workers earn in Alabama
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$23,700Alabama- Middle 50% of published wages
- $22,050 – $27,840
- U.S. median annual wage
- $31,200
- 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 Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.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 Alabama
How median pay varies by metro area
Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Fast food and counter workers, compared with the Alabama median of $23,700.
Huntsville, AL$27,180+14.7% vs. state
Birmingham, AL$27,020+14.0% vs. state
Decatur, AL$25,720+8.5% vs. state
Tuscaloosa, AL$24,630+3.9% vs. state
Auburn-Opelika, AL$24,600+3.8% vs. state
Mobile, AL$23,510−0.8% vs. state
View 7 more published metro areas
Columbus, GA-AL$23,300−1.7% vs. state
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL$23,000−3.0% vs. state
Montgomery, AL$22,960−3.1% vs. state
Gadsden, AL$22,770−3.9% vs. state
Anniston-Oxford, AL$22,650−4.4% vs. state
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL$22,590−4.7% vs. state
Dothan, AL$22,360−5.7% vs. state
Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Alabama 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 Alabama’s weighted industry mix.
Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Published coverage: 13,822 represented establishments, 88.46% of the published industry mix.
Local research
What the data shows for fast food and counter workers in Alabama
Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.
This occupation is less concentrated in the state
Employment concentration provides a different comparison for fast food and counter workers in Alabama. In OEWS May 2025, the published location quotient is 0.79, meaning the occupation's share of employment is 0.79 times its national share. The state estimate is 41,460 jobs, 1.1% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 19.62 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. This measures existing employment concentration, not current hiring or future growth.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSOEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.
Published median pay is below the U.S. median
OEWS May 2025 records a state median annual wage of $23,700 for fast food and counter workers in Alabama. Against the national median of $31,200, that is 24.0% lower. A median describes the middle of the distribution and does not include a living-cost adjustment.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSLeisure and hospitality has the largest positive weighted contribution
The positive weighted contributions in Alabama are concentrated in Leisure and hospitality: it accounts for 97.3% across the leading industry groups examined in January to March 2026, with its own employment changing +2.9% year over year. The calculation weights industry groups by their shares of this occupation's national industry mix; the examined groups cover 99.2% of the mix. This describes an employment-growth proxy, not occupation jobs created.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWPay differs widely between metro areas
The median wage at the upper end of Alabama's metro comparison is 21.6% above the lower end in OEWS May 2025. The 12 published estimates on a shared wage basis extend from Dothan, AL at $22,360 to Huntsville, AL at $27,180. The wage difference alone does not account for living costs or job availability.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSMetro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.
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
Alabama 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.
- Alabama · 2026 Q1+2.6%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.6%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | Alabama | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | +2.5% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | +2.2% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | +2.4% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | +1.5% | 100% |
| 2025 Q2 | +1.6% | 100% |
| 2025 Q3 | +1.7% | 100% |
| 2025 Q4 | +2.0% | 100% |
| 2026 Q1 | +2.6% | 100% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows Alabama’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
- +0.6%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Fast food and counter workers Work
The occupation mix determines which Alabama industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leisure and hospitality | 88.4% | +2.9% | 13,822 | $468 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 5.9% | -0.2% | 35,578 | $1,160 |
| Private education and health services | 3.5% | +1.9% | 24,909 | $1,137 |
| Manufacturing | 0.7% | -0.4% | 7,356 | $1,533 |
| State and local | 0.4% | +1.3% | 5,237 | $1,178 |
| Information | 0.4% | -0.8% | 4,907 | $1,916 |
Which industries are growing?
3 weighted industries are growing
Only weighted industries with a published positive Alabama employment change are listed.
- Leisure and hospitality+2.9%
- Private education and health services+1.9%
- State and local+1.3%
The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.
Current Alabama context
Current Alabama Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in Alabama. They are not Fast food and counter workers demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · Alabama
Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score
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
| Observation date | Index (Feb 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | 128.34 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 127.55 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 127.31 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 127.28 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 127.66 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 128.80 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 130.83 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 132.97 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 133.61 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 134.52 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 133.77 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 133.40 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 132.86 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 133.43 |
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.
Career context
Related occupations
Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.
Questions answered by this release
Fast food and counter workers in Alabama FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Fast food and counter workers in Alabama?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Alabama industries weighted to Fast food and counter workers changed +2.6% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.6% nationwide.
Are wages for Fast food and counter workers rising in Alabama?
QCEW does not publish pay for Fast food and counter workers in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +3.9% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this Alabama 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 Fast food and counter workers 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
- Fast food and counter workers
- SOC code
- 35-3023
- State
- Alabama
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- +2.6%State data coverage 100%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- +0.6%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- +2.0 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
- +4.4%State data coverage 100%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +3.9%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/fast-food-and-counter-workers/alabama#evidence-record
- Derived by
- JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix
MethodologyBLS QCEWHow to citeQCEW 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.