Compared with the local labor market
Food Service Working pay vs. the United States
Across all employers in the United States, the median wage for Food Servers, Nonrestaurant — about 293,900 people — is $35,360. Department of Homeland Security pays a median base salary of $42,846 for this role, 21% above that figure — about the 84th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Homeland Security sits in the local pay range
$28,030
$31,190
$35,360
$38,500
$46,120
Department of Homeland Security median · $42,846
The bar is the range of annual wages for Food Servers, Nonrestaurant across every employer in the United States, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Homeland Security’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Homeland Security is $42,846, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
This role across U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)
Food Service Working is held in 4 U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) departments. In Department of Homeland Security, the median of $42,846 ranks #4 of 4.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Food Service Working role in other U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)departments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.