Compared with the local labor market
Lunchroom Attendant pay vs. the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers — about 18,100 people — is $31,200. Carver Primary pays a median base salary of $28,283 for this role, 9% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Carver Primary sits in the local pay range
$31,200
$31,200
$31,200
$34,080
$39,170
Carver Primary median · $28,283
The bar is the range of annual wages for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers across every employer in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Carver Primary’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers — about 542,750 people — is $33,980. Carver Primary’s median base salary is 17% below that national figure, about the 25th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$21,300
$28,330
$33,980
$37,250
$46,570
Carver Primary median · $28,283
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Carver Primary is $44,455, 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.