ResumeBear Blog

19 Responses to “The Worst Paying Jobs in America According to BLS”

1. 

   Paul McKrankout
   

   26. Apr, 2009

   Waiters and waitresses
   Average hourly earnings: $8.27
   Average annual earnings: $17,190

   If you divide $17,190 by $8.27, it equals 40 hours per week. 50% of all wait persons work part time. If you are working full time as a server and you’re only making $8.27 an hour, that means you’re making about $5.00 in tips per hour. If your average customer tips you 10% (most customers are miserly) and you have three customers per hour, that’s $1.60 in tips per customer, which means you’re working at a greasy spoon diner in the Ozarks. Where does this data come from? Waiting tables does not pay an average of $8 an hour.

   I’ll tell you what job pays $0 per hour - a sales executive at ResumeBear. Because there is no such position, even though it’s been advertised regularly for the past year.

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2. 

   Kelsey
   

   19. Feb, 2009

   I’d like to know what position the theme park employees are working in to be paid $8.43/hour. I’m in my fourth year as an employee for Busch Gardens Europe (I’m also a lead supervisor), and I’m only getting $7.70/hour. Yeah, the benefits are okay, but in this day and age (and also having to pay for my own college education), I’d prefer to be getting a higher salary than the benefits.

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3. 

   Annie
   

   09. Feb, 2009

   Legislation needs to change. Waiters get paid $2.13/hour in my state. That’s not even HALF of minimum wage. How can anyone but teenagers and college-age students be expected to work jobs like this? Oh, wait, that’s all it is anymore. Well, kids, and the immigrants who have two or three jobs just to survive. They’re low-skill, crappy jobs. Customers are allowed to treat service workers like crap. I do not doubt that people are greedy. It’s really rather frustrating.

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4. 

   Mike
   

   30. Jan, 2009

   Until all illegal mexican-korean- INVADERS ARE KICKED OUT OF AMERIKA…NOTHING WILL CHANGE..

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5. 

   Mike
   

   30. Jan, 2009

   This shows just how sick amerika is. Cooking should be near the top of the list..As far as amerikan jobs are concerned it will only get worse–as all the illegals ARE PUSHING THE WAGES DOWN TO NOTHING..Thank your greed driven capitalists..

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6. 

   Sven
   

   28. Jan, 2009

   I don’t doubt that these are lousy jobs, and that it’s awfully hard to get by on almost any of them. However, some of these numbers don’t look right, particularly for the jobs where workers receive tips.

   For example, I grew up in Vegas, and know that salaries for casino dealers are low. However, dealers receive a substantial income in tips from the gamblers who play at their table. This has actually long been a pretty desirable job in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and is seen by many as a ticket to the middle class. While tips vary substantially by casino (high-stakes tables at high-end casinos obviously generate bigger tips), I’m sure they’re not making far more than burger flippers and dishwashers.

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7. 

   Ashley
   

   11. Jan, 2009

   Wow, definitely did not know this information. This will now be my ‘what not to do for a living’ list. Also agree with another person on this blog, that we should definitely be tipping better after reading this!

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8. 

   Tim
   

   10. Jan, 2009

   I know all about it, I worked a seasonal job at Toys R Us and had two 40 hour weeks. The paychecks were not as big as I would have hoped for. Minimum wage blows.

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9. 

   namita
   

   10. Jan, 2009

   lol good information.And piks are also good lol

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10. 

    Robin
    

    09. Jan, 2009

    I didn’t realize that was what these jobs were making these days. I did a few of them 20 years ago but I was only making about 1/3 what they are making now. How times have changed.

    Nice Blog!

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11. 

    Gurcharan Singh
    

    09. Jan, 2009

    good job. this contains a lot of informative data and i get the insight that how much is Americans earnings

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12. 

    Mahalakshmi
    

    08. Jan, 2009

    I like this site. It has got very useful information. may be many who live there may find this informative

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13. 

    Oozle
    

    06. Jan, 2009

    Ouch… I’ve worked half these jobs

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14. 

    Samuel Y.
    

    06. Jan, 2009

    Wow. These numbers are pretty astonishing. I am sure all these poorly paid employees have talents and skills that are gone unnoticed. With a professional resume and some good resume tips I am sure people with these jobs could land better paying jobs.

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15. 

    Amitesh Kumar
    

    06. Jan, 2009

    nice blog,very informative.now i get an insight into how much americans are earning.

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16. 

    cidfaw
    

    05. Jan, 2009

    Good information and details.

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17. 

    Bozo
    

    05. Jan, 2009

    SCARY, most everyone I know works in one of the first 9, all in the food service industry.

    No wonder we’re all poor, and working our asses off…

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18. 

    Bud B
    

    05. Jan, 2009

    Wow, I started out doing some of these jobs — first a farm worker, then a restaurant worker. That was long before online resume writing and online resume tracking.

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19. 

    XL Brokerage
    

    05. Jan, 2009

    Wow I didn’t know the average for bartenders and wait staff was so low. We should be tipping them better!

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