Waiter Salary in South East
Official ONS earnings for South East, covering 22,000 jobs.
Median salary — South East
£9,429
gross, per year, all employees
Mean
£11,628
Jobs measured
22,000
What a typical waiter takes home
On the median of £9,429, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£786
Take-home a year
£9,429
Income Tax
£0
National Insurance
£0
What most waiters actually earn
Half of waiters in South East earn between £6,429 and £19,911. Earning above £19,911 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
ONS suppresses the detailed spread for this occupation at regional level, so this range describes the wider “Other Elementary Services Occupations” group in South East.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of waiters earn less than this.
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Waiters and waitresses
- SOC 2020 code
- 9264
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2026 provisional
ONS publishes a sampling error of 18.2% for this figure and asks that anything above 10% is treated as imprecise — too few people in this region answered the survey for this occupation. The figure is shown because it is the one ONS published, but it is not firm enough to rank South East against anywhere else, so this page doesn't.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Waiter salary FAQs
What is the average Waiter salary in South East?
The median is £9,429 a year and the mean is £11,628, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; ASHE publishes no full-time split at regional level.
How much does a waiter earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £12.81 excluding overtime, or £13.37 for full-time employees. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only, so there is no separate rate for South East.
What is a good Waiter salary?
Half of waiters earn between £6,429 and £19,911. Anything above £19,911 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a waiter?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of waiters earn under £3,255 and the lowest quarter under £6,429 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
How much do the highest-paid waiters earn?
The top 10% of waiters earn more than £27,029 a year, and the top quarter more than £19,911. ASHE does not publish figures above the 90th percentile.
Do waiters in South East earn more than the UK average?
The median in South East is £9,429 against £11,412 across the UK, 17.4% lower. ONS marks the South East figure as imprecise, so treat the gap as indicative.
How many waiters are there in South East?
ASHE counts around 22,000 employee jobs in “Waiters and waitresses” (SOC 9264) in South East. Self-employed work is not included.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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