Waitress Monthly Pay

• As of 2009, a waitress's average annual salary was $20,380, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To calculate average monthly pay, average annual pay is divided by 12 to get $1,698 per month. Waitresses on the lower end of the pay scale, or 10th percentile, earned $14,920 per year and $1,243 per month, and those on the higher end of the pay scale, or 90th percentile, earned $30,110 per year and $2,509 per month. All monthly salary figures are based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' annual salary statistics.
  
  

Salary by Location

• In 2009, Washington was the highest-paying state for waitresses, where monthly pay averaged $2,383. Massachusetts and Vermont followed; where waitress pay averaged $2,272 and $2,261 per month. Rounding out the list were the District of Columbia and New York, where waitress monthly salaries averaged $2,222 and $2,138, respectively. Nevada employed the most waitresses per capita; employing 37,470 waiters and waitresses, monthly salaries averaged $1,779. The highest paying metropolitan area was the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts Division. Monthly salaries in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Division averaged $2,450, according to the BLS's yearly salary statistics.
  
  

Salary by Location

• In 2009, the highest-paying industry was travel arrangement and reservation services; monthly salaries in this industry averaged $2,319. Grant making and giving services and beverage manufacturing were numbers two and three on the highest-paying industries list. In grant making and giving services, monthly salaries averaged $2,246 and in beverage manufacturing, monthly pay averaged $2,023. Rounding out the list were traveler accommodations and furniture stores, where monthly salaries averaged $2,013 and $1,958, respectively. Full-service restaurants employed more waiters and waitresses than any other industry. In full-service restaurants, 1,735,260 waiters and waitresses averaged $1,680 in salary per month, according to the BLS's yearly salary statistics.
  
  

Other Factors

• Other factors that may impact a waitress's pay are her demeanor, her efficiency and her customer service abilities. Higher earnings for waitresses usually result from tips and do not usually result from higher hourly wages, according to the BLS. Because tips are a waitress's main source of income, waitressing is somewhat performance based. A friendly, efficient waitress who always provides excellent service to her customers is likely to earn more than a waitress who is inefficient, forgetful and does not provide her customers with good service.