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. Richard Henry Lee School pays a median base salary of $26,515 for this role, 15% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Richard Henry Lee School sits in the local pay range
$31,200
$31,200
$31,200
$34,080
$39,170
Richard Henry Lee School median · $26,515
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 Richard Henry Lee School’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. Richard Henry Lee School’s median base salary is 22% below that national figure, about the 21st percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$21,300
$28,330
$33,980
$37,250
$46,570
Richard Henry Lee School median · $26,515
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.
Computed over the 2 of 3 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at Richard Henry Lee School is $42,311, 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.