Food Service Director Salary

Created by Henry Steele

By Henry Steele - January 8, 2018
Reading Time: 10 minutes
Reading Time: 10 minutes

The following article discusses the career path of Food Service Director. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of Food Service Directors.

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Food Service Director Job Duties

Food service directors hold responsibility for the functioning of dining services. They organize, implement, and manage different departments. They must be fully up to date with all the relevant health and sanitation codes, and the various safety regulations. They make sure that their department complies with these codes and regulations, as well as with internal policies and procedures. They also hold responsibility for the department’s budget, overseeing staff, and maintaining inventory and stock levels.

This professional can be found in a range of environments, including staff canteens, hospital restaurants, banquet halls, school lunch rooms, restaurants, and more. Sometimes, the director also has to have contact with customers. However, more often than not, they work in an office during normal office hours, although overtime is often required during crisis situations.

Other job duties of a food service director include:

  • Holding responsibility for all staff operations, budget development, and budget planning
  • Focusing on full compliance with safety, nutritional, quality, and sanitation standards based on local, state, and federal requirements
  • Planning, implementing, and directing various nutrition services programs
  • Holding responsibility for all inventory and product distribution

Where Food Service Directors Work

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 308,700 food service managers in 2016. The largest employers of these professionals were:

  • Restaurants and other eating places: 47%
  • Self-employed workers: 34%
  • Special food services: 4%
  • Accommodation: 3%

How to Become a Food Service Director

Typically, a food service director will have a bachelor’s degree in a field such as dietetics, nutrition, culinary arts, hospitality, or business. Some employers look for those with a graduate degree. Work experience is also very important, with three years usually being the minimum. Many also have other certificates, including those offered by Servsafe.

Food Service Director Education Requirements

In order to take on a director position, it is generally expected for someone to hold a bachelor’s degree as a minimum, as well as having significant work experience. Some of this experience will be obtained during degree internships. Common subjects studied at bachelor level include hospitality management, restaurant management, and institutional food service.

These degree programs teach students about food preparation, sanitation, and nutrition, but they also look at the business element, focusing on business law, accounting, and management. These are required skills for a director in this position. Additional training in areas such as record keeping, personnel management, company policies, security, sanitation, and food preparation may also be required.

There are a number of certifications that those in this field can choose to obtain, including the Food Protection Manager Certification (FPMC), accredited by the American National Standards Institute. The Foodservice Management Professional (FMP) designation can be obtained through the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation as well.

Food Service Director Traits & Qualities

The most effective food service directors have the following traits to some degree or other:

  • Excellent business acumen
  • Strong communication skills, both oral and written
  • Excellent customer service skills
  • Detail oriented
  • Strong leadership and motivational skills
  • Great organizational skills
  • Physical stamina
  • Problem solving skills

Minimum Food Service Director Education

Degree

National Food Service Director Salary

The national average salary estimate for Food Service Director was $55,529. This number is estimated from over 502,024 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $28.92 and monthly of $4,627.

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$14,000

$128,000

Salary Distribution

Food Service Director Salary by State

The following section lists Food Service Director salaries in each state around the country. The figures are based on the total number of job postings through Indeed.com. For example, Washington had the largest quoted salary of $80,072 while South Dakota had the smallest quoted salary of $30,355.

AlabamaKentuckyOhio
ArkansasLouisianaOklahoma
ArizonaMassachusettsOregon
CaliforniaMarylandPennsylvania
ConnecticutMichiganSouth Carolina
DCMinnesotaSouth Dakota
DelawareMissouriTennessee
FloridaMississippiTexas
GeorgiaNorth CarolinaUtah
IowaNorth DakotaVirginia
IdahoNebraskaVermont
IllinoisNew JerseyWashington
IndianaNew MexicoWisconsin
KansasNew YorkWest Virginia
Alabama$49,852Rank: 29th
The average salary ranks 29th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Executive Leadership Solutions, Metz Culinary Management, Express Employment Professionals, and Restaurant Management Search.

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$14,000

$115,000

Salary Distribution
Arkansas$51,106Rank: 25th
The average salary ranks 25th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Goodwin Recruiting and Opaa Food Management, Inc..

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$14,000

$124,000

Salary Distribution
Arizona$59,259Rank: 9th
The average salary ranks 9th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Aramark.

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$19,000

$120,000

Salary Distribution
California$70,980Rank: 4th
The average salary ranks 4th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Goodwin Recruiting, AppleOne, Hilton, and Jewish Family Service of San diego.

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$16,000

$165,000

Salary Distribution
Connecticut$57,176Rank: 12th
The average salary ranks 12th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Aramark.

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$14,000

$128,000

Salary Distribution
DC$75,919Rank: 2nd
The average salary ranks 2nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like ALC Staffing Associates, Staffing Solutions Group, LLC, and Metz Culinary Management.

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$25,000

$152,000

Salary Distribution
Delaware$59,461Rank: 8th
The average salary ranks 8th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Metz Culinary Management.

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$26,000

$106,000

Salary Distribution
Florida$53,475Rank: 20th
The average salary ranks 20th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Alexander Hotel, Miami Beach, FL, Aramark, Tunie’s Natural Grocery and Vitamin Market, and Marriott Vacations Worldwide.

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$14,000

$130,000

Salary Distribution
Georgia$58,861Rank: 10th
The average salary ranks 10th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Executive Leadership Solutions, University of Georgia, TalentServed Hospitality Recruiters, and ABL Management.

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$17,000

$124,000

Salary Distribution
Iowa$47,471Rank: 37th
The average salary ranks 37th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Horizon Hospitality.

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$15,000

$97,000

Salary Distribution
Idaho$58,331Rank: 11th
The average salary ranks 11th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Shore Lodge.

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$18,000

$121,000

Salary Distribution
Illinois$55,378Rank: 16th
The average salary ranks 16th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Goodwin Recruiting, TAHER, INC, Trinity Services Group, Inc., and Aramark.

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$14,000

$122,000

Salary Distribution
Indiana$51,175Rank: 24th
The average salary ranks 24th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Goodwin Recruiting, Aramark, LGC Hospitality, and The Course at Aberdeen.

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$19,000

$97,000

Salary Distribution
Kansas$43,074Rank: 40th
The average salary ranks 40th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Hotel and Restaurant, Consolidated Management Company, Opaa Food Management, Inc., and CBM Managed Services.

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$15,000

$86,000

Salary Distribution
Kentucky$50,283Rank: 27th
The average salary ranks 27th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Executive Leadership Solutions and Aramark.

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$14,000

$140,000

Salary Distribution
Louisiana$48,878Rank: 32nd
The average salary ranks 32nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Restaurant Management Search.

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$14,000

$139,000

Salary Distribution
Massachusetts$54,094Rank: 18th
The average salary ranks 18th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Aramark.

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$19,000

$106,000

Salary Distribution
Maryland$59,978Rank: 7th
The average salary ranks 7th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Metz Culinary Management, Aramark, and Harper Associates.

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$18,000

$126,000

Salary Distribution
Michigan$50,474Rank: 26th
The average salary ranks 26th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Harper Associates, Trinity Services Group, Inc., and Aramark.

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$18,000

$99,000

Salary Distribution
Minnesota$53,907Rank: 19th
The average salary ranks 19th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Horizon Hospitality, Aramark, and CBM Managed Services.

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$19,000

$106,000

Salary Distribution
Missouri$44,761Rank: 39th
The average salary ranks 39th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Friendship Village Sunset Hills, Aramark, Restaurant Management Search, and Opaa Food Management, Inc..

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$14,000

$98,000

Salary Distribution
Mississippi$47,869Rank: 35th
The average salary ranks 35th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Goodwin Recruiting and Restaurant Management Search.

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$16,000

$97,000

Salary Distribution
North Carolina$47,902Rank: 34th
The average salary ranks 34th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Aramark, ABL MANAGEMENT, INC, and Restaurant Management Search.

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$14,000

$119,000

Salary Distribution
North Dakota$60,442Rank: 6th
The average salary ranks 6th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Holiday Inn Riverside Minot.

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$30,000

$92,000

Salary Distribution
Nebraska$47,808Rank: 36th
The average salary ranks 36th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like State of Nebraska.

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$17,000

$92,000

Salary Distribution
New Jersey$52,599Rank: 21st
The average salary ranks 21st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Pinnacle Dietary and Protechockey Ponds LLC.

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$19,000

$102,000

Salary Distribution
New Mexico$50,265Rank: 28th
The average salary ranks 28th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Aramark.

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$14,000

$151,000

Salary Distribution
New York$64,355Rank: 5th
The average salary ranks 5th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Metz Culinary Management, EJ Total Staffing, Nutrition Management Services Company, and Alvin Kahn and Associates.

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$17,000

$141,000

Salary Distribution
Ohio$54,575Rank: 17th
The average salary ranks 17th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Aramark, Restaurant Management Search, The Nutrition Group, and Warren County institution.

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$14,000

$140,000

Salary Distribution
Oklahoma$40,564Rank: 41st
The average salary ranks 41st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Trinity Services Group, Inc., Karsten Creek Golf Club, and Opaa Food Management, Inc..

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$14,000

$82,000

Salary Distribution
Oregon$49,781Rank: 30th
The average salary ranks 30th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Petra Memory Care.

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$14,000

$114,000

Salary Distribution
Pennsylvania$45,825Rank: 38th
The average salary ranks 38th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Clinical Jobs, Metz Culinary Management, Central Care Solutions, and DeVore Recruiting.

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$14,000

$96,000

Salary Distribution
South Carolina$56,923Rank: 13th
The average salary ranks 13th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Aramark, Restaurant Management Search, and Trinity Services Group, Inc..

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$17,000

$120,000

Salary Distribution
South Dakota$30,355Rank: 42nd
The average salary ranks 42nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CBM Managed Services and CBM Managed Services McCrossan Boys Ranch.

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$8.00

$25.60

Salary Distribution
Tennessee$52,269Rank: 22nd
The average salary ranks 22nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Madison Hotel, Executive Leadership Solutions, Metz Culinary Management, and Aramark.

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$20,000

$99,000

Salary Distribution
Texas$56,112Rank: 15th
The average salary ranks 15th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Arch Staffing Group, Aramark, Compass Group, and Sage Dining Services.

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$14,000

$127,000

Salary Distribution
Utah$51,178Rank: 23rd
The average salary ranks 23rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Friendship Manor.

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$16,000

$106,000

Salary Distribution
Virginia$56,576Rank: 14th
The average salary ranks 14th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Goodwin Recruiting, Aramark, and CBM Managed Services.

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$14,000

$128,000

Salary Distribution
Vermont$49,399Rank: 31st
The average salary ranks 31st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Metz Culinary Management.

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$14,000

$119,000

Salary Distribution
Washington$80,072Rank: 1st
The average salary ranks 1st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Thomas Cuisine Management and Goodwin Recruiting.

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$27,000

$160,000

Salary Distribution
Wisconsin$48,464Rank: 33rd
The average salary ranks 33rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Northern Star Council, BSA, Express Employment Professionals of Green Bay, and Aramark.

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$18,000

$92,000

Salary Distribution
West Virginia$72,686Rank: 3rd
The average salary ranks 3rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Metz Culinary Management, Goodwin Recruiting, and Aramark.

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$36,000

$114,000

Salary Distribution

Top 20 National Food Service Director Employers

According to Indeed.com, the following states had employers looking to hire a Food Service Director. The quoted salary figure represents the average salary from all job postings by this employer.

Employer NameLocationAverage Salary

Food Service Director Learn More

Related Food Service Director Careers

Career NameAverage Salary

Henry Steele
Managing Editor
Henry is Managing Editor of BusinessStudent.com. He is a seasoned business professional who regularly consults with local business's throughout Southern California. Henry pursued his undergrad in Business and Economics at the University of San Diego and gained valuable life changing experience through a unique internship upon graduation.

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