June 12, 2018

Waiters Are the Third-Lowest Paid Occupation In Washington DC

Yesterday I ran across a piece at the Intercept about a campaign to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers in Washington DC. It currently stands at a mere $3.33, which is justified by the belief that waiters and waitresses are able to make up for this low minimum wage via tips. But this got me curious. Counting all those tips, how much do waiters in Washington DC make? Luckily, the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides the median wage in DC for 462 different occupations:

There you have it. Waiters make less than parking lot attendants. Less than cashiers. Less than telemarketers. They are the third-lowest paid profession in the entire city. So should they get a raise? It’s hard to see why not.

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