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Accommodation and Food Services

Sector · NAICS 72

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Accommodation and Food Services is a U.S. industry in the NAICS classification. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates about 14,233,950 workers across 269 detailed occupations in it. A typical worker earns around $35,395 a year (Singulariki estimate, see below).

The Sector as a Whole The Accommodation and Food Services sector comprises establishments providing customers with lodging and/or preparing meals, snacks, and beverages for immediate consumption. The sector includes both accommodation and food services establishments because the two activities are often combined at the same establishment. Some establishments that provide food and beverage services are classified in other sectors. Excluded from this sector are civic and social organizations. These establishments are classified in Sector 81, Other Services (except Public Administration). Amusement and recreation parks, dinner theaters, and other recreation or entertainment facilities are classified in Sector 71, Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation. Motion picture theaters are classified in Sector 51, Information.

Employment is national May 2024 OEWS. "Typical pay" is Singulariki's own figure — the employment-weighted average of each occupation's national median wage — a rough center of the industry, not an official BLS number.

How exposed this industry is to AI

Weighting every occupation in this industry by its employment and its unified AI-exposure index (the OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" human-rated task overlap folded with the Felten/Raj/Seamans AIOE index), this industry sits in the Low band — 25th percentile across all industries.

Exposure measures how much of the work overlaps with what today's AI can do, not a prediction of automation; high-exposure industries are where AI is most likely to reshape tasks. Employment-weighted across 231 occupations that carry an exposure score. Compare every industry on the AI exposure hub.

How AI is actually used in this industry

Among measured Claude.ai (Free and Pro) conversations mapped to O*NET task statements (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these patterns are most associated with the occupations in this industry, weighted by its employment mix. They are shares of observed AI conversations — not of worker time, revenue, or what could be automated — and reflect one AI assistant's consumer sample, not all AI.

Signal coverage 66.1% of employment · 144/250 occupations have AEI task data
Augmentation vs. automation 41.3% working with AI · 38.7% handed to AI
Most common pattern Directive · AI does it; you give the instruction
Typical AI autonomy 3.6 / 5 · higher = AI acts more independently

Tasks driving the signal

The task families that account for the most AI activity across this industry's occupations (employment × observed usage), each attributed to the occupation it comes from.

Task Occupation How Share of signal
Answer customers' questions, and provide information on procedures or policies. Cashiers Directive 26.8%
Plan parties or other special events and services. Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop Iteration 10.6%
Troubleshoot problems involving office equipment, such as computer hardware and software. Office Clerks, General Feedback loop 7.0%
Plan and price menu items. Cooks, Restaurant Directive 6.2%
Describe and recommend wines to customers. Waiters and Waitresses Directive 4.6%
Assist customers by providing information and resolving their complaints. Cashiers Iteration 3.7%
Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment. Cooks, Restaurant Directive 3.3%
Train workers in food preparation, and in service, sanitation, and safety procedures. First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Learning 2.7%
Prepare specialty foods such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, and tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time. Cooks, Fast Food Directive 2.5%
Wash, cut, and prepare foods designated for cooking. Cooks, Fast Food Directive 1.9%
Specify food portions and courses, production and time sequences, and workstation and equipment arrangements. First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers Directive 1.8%
Bake, roast, broil, and steam meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods. Cooks, Restaurant Directive 1.8%

Occupations behind the signal

The occupations whose AI-touched tasks contribute most to this industry's signal, by employment here.

Occupation Workers Share How they use AI
Waiters and Waitresses 2,116,650 14.9% Directive
Cooks, Restaurant 1,356,300 9.5% Directive
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers 1,010,610 7.1% Directive
Cooks, Fast Food 647,470 4.5% Directive
Bartenders 588,740 4.1% Directive
Food Preparation Workers 515,940 3.6% Learning
Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners 436,460 3.1% Directive
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop 404,440 2.8% Iteration
Cashiers 327,250 2.3% Directive
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks 249,430 1.8% Directive
General and Operations Managers 221,240 1.6% Iteration
Food Service Managers 208,270 1.5% Directive

This rollup is only as complete as the occupation-task matches available for the industry; the coverage figure above is shown so sparse industries do not look falsely precise. AI exposure is not the same as replacement.

Skill & tool metabolism

What this industry's work actually runs on. Each figure is the share of the industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on a skill, knowledge area, or ability (O*NET importance ≥ 3 of 5), or that use a tool category — its employment reach. This is a measure of how widespread a requirement is across the workforce, not how intensively any one worker uses it. Shares are independent and need not add to 100%.

Based on 98.9% of this industry's employment that maps to a detailed occupation with an O*NET skill profile.

Skills

Skill Employment reach Workers
Active Listening 83.3% 11,853,410
Service Orientation 82.5% 11,736,050
Speaking 81.0% 11,534,580
Coordination 68.6% 9,761,790
Social Perceptiveness 66.7% 9,491,630
Monitoring 48.8% 6,942,320
Time Management 41.7% 5,934,730
Critical Thinking 33.3% 4,743,840
Reading Comprehension 25.6% 3,639,610
Complex Problem Solving 23.1% 3,286,650
Active Learning 19.5% 2,775,690
Judgment and Decision Making 18.6% 2,650,760

Knowledge areas

Knowledge area Employment reach Workers
English Language 94.0% 13,384,880
Customer and Personal Service 84.6% 12,037,870
Food Production 49.2% 7,009,870
Sales and Marketing 34.2% 4,865,800
Administration and Management 24.3% 3,455,240
Education and Training 16.2% 2,306,980
Production and Processing 13.9% 1,976,800
Public Safety and Security 13.9% 1,977,580
Personnel and Human Resources 13.2% 1,875,280
Mathematics 10.4% 1,474,070
Administrative 9.7% 1,381,880
Transportation 6.3% 902,010

Abilities

Abilitie Employment reach Workers
Near Vision 98.9% 14,079,030
Oral Comprehension 95.9% 13,656,440
Speech Recognition 87.5% 12,449,360
Oral Expression 86.9% 12,363,700
Speech Clarity 82.5% 11,741,220
Information Ordering 61.1% 8,701,190
Time Sharing 57.8% 8,229,870
Problem Sensitivity 57.5% 8,183,210
Trunk Strength 54.6% 7,765,920
Deductive Reasoning 43.3% 6,166,540
Manual Dexterity 42.5% 6,052,110
Arm-Hand Steadiness 41.7% 5,928,890

Tool categories

Tool category Employment reach Workers
Spreadsheet software 76.0% 10,812,060
Point of sale POS software 75.8% 10,791,520
Web page creation and editing software 74.0% 10,528,210
Data base user interface and query software 67.3% 9,580,130
Office suite software 65.0% 9,246,480
Word processing software 59.3% 8,438,510
Operating system software 44.3% 6,302,340
Electronic mail software 43.2% 6,149,540
Computer based training software 35.1% 5,001,390
Instant messaging software 24.7% 3,512,970
Presentation software 18.9% 2,693,290
Enterprise resource planning ERP software 17.0% 2,416,010
Desktop publishing software 16.5% 2,343,390
Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software 16.4% 2,335,370
Inventory management software 15.9% 2,260,510

Reach = share of industry employment in occupations where the requirement is significant; it is not a per-worker usage or proficiency measure. Skill, knowledge, and ability importance is from O*NET; tool use is reported presence of a technology category.

Largest occupations

Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 39 occupations in Accommodation and Food Services. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Dishwashers Food Preparation Workers Maintenance and Repair Workers, General Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria Security Guards Chefs and Head Cooks Food Service Managers Waiters and Waitresses First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers General and Operations Managers Lodging Managers Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks Accountants and Auditors AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
The largest occupations in this industry with both an AI task-overlap score and a wage, plotted by task-overlap percentile (horizontal) and median-pay percentile (vertical). Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation.

The occupations that employ the most people in this industry, with their share of the industry's workforce and national median pay for the occupation (not industry-specific pay).

Occupation Workers Share National median pay
Fast Food and Counter Workers 3,313,790 23.3% $30,140
Waiters and Waitresses 2,116,650 14.9% $33,710
Cooks, Restaurant 1,356,300 9.5% $36,750
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers 1,010,610 7.1% $39,520
Cooks, Fast Food 647,470 4.5% $30,140
Bartenders 588,740 4.1% $34,020
Food Preparation Workers 515,940 3.6% $33,280
Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners 436,460 3.1% $34,150
Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers 434,050 3.0% $32,280
Dishwashers 407,320 2.9% $33,600
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop 404,440 2.8% $30,220
Cashiers 327,250 2.3% $29,580
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks 249,430 1.8% $34,170
General and Operations Managers 221,240 1.6% $63,460
Food Service Managers 208,270 1.5% $63,800
Driver/Sales Workers 183,980 1.3% $29,850
Chefs and Head Cooks 142,030 1.0% $60,580
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General 131,030 0.9% $38,380
Cooks, Short Order 124,350 0.9% $35,620
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners 110,950 0.8% $36,350
Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria 86,900 0.6% $37,560
Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other 72,730 0.5% $34,740
Bakers 66,410 0.5% $35,780
Food Servers, Nonrestaurant 60,730 0.4% $33,920
Security Guards 59,520 0.4% $38,240
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers 45,640 0.3% $50,050
Gambling Dealers 45,110 0.3% $29,850
First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers 43,320 0.3% $44,960
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers 41,560 0.3% $33,800
Office Clerks, General 39,650 0.3% $40,100
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks 39,150 0.3% $43,780
Lodging Managers 37,630 0.3% $66,240
Training and Development Specialists 35,910 0.3% $34,490
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel 29,530 0.2% $58,450
Customer Service Representatives 24,800 0.2% $34,200
Retail Salespersons 21,110 0.1% $31,740
Amusement and Recreation Attendants 19,650 0.1% $33,280
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners 19,610 0.1% $57,200
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive 19,480 0.1% $44,280
Accountants and Auditors 18,590 0.1% $71,440

Showing the top 40 of 269 occupations by employment.

Most distinctive occupations

The occupations most unusually concentrated in this industry compared with the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more common an occupation is here versus its economy-wide share (a value of 5 means five times as concentrated).

For a sector this broad, the location quotient has a ceiling set by the sector's own share of national employment, so the top values tend to cluster near that limit.

Occupation Concentration Workers
Cooks, Fast Food 10.5× 647,470
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks 10.34× 249,430
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop 10.26× 404,440
Cooks, Restaurant 10.12× 1,356,300
Waiters and Waitresses 9.96× 2,116,650
Lodging Managers 9.86× 37,630
Fast Food and Counter Workers 9.49× 3,313,790
Dishwashers 9.35× 407,320
Food Service Managers 9.24× 208,270
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers 9.22× 1,010,610
Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers 9.01× 434,050
Cooks, Short Order 8.95× 124,350
Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other 8.79× 72,730
Bartenders 8.55× 588,740
Chefs and Head Cooks 8.44× 142,030
Food Preparation Workers 6.29× 515,940
Baggage Porters and Bellhops 5.91× 17,030
First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers 5.9× 13,900
Gambling Dealers 5.89× 45,110
Cooks, All Other 5.61× 12,210

Sub-industries

More detailed industries within Accommodation and Food Services.

Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation

The Accommodation and Food Services workforce sits at the 25th percentile of AI task overlap — 14,233,950 U.S. workers

  • Weighting every occupation by its real share of Accommodation and Food Services employment, the industry's workforce ranks in the 25th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap — overlap with what AI can attempt, not a measure of jobs at risk.Eloundou et al. + Felten AIOE, weighted by BLS OEWS
  • The industry employs about 14,233,950 U.S. workers across 269 occupations.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
  • Employment-weighted typical annual pay is about $35,395.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
  • Of AI use observed across this industry's occupations, 41% looks like augmentation rather than automation — from a Claude.ai sample, not a census.Anthropic Economic Index
Copy the whole kit
The Accommodation and Food Services workforce sits at the 25th percentile of AI task overlap — 14,233,950 U.S. workers

• Weighting every occupation by its real share of Accommodation and Food Services employment, the industry's workforce ranks in the 25th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap — overlap with what AI can attempt, not a measure of jobs at risk. (Eloundou et al. + Felten AIOE, weighted by BLS OEWS)
• The industry employs about 14,233,950 U.S. workers across 269 occupations. (BLS OEWS (May 2024))
• Employment-weighted typical annual pay is about $35,395. (BLS OEWS (May 2024))
• Of AI use observed across this industry's occupations, 41% looks like augmentation rather than automation — from a Claude.ai sample, not a census. (Anthropic Economic Index)

Source: Singulariki — "Accommodation and Food Services". https://singulariki.com/industries/72
Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.

AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom

Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 3, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Accommodation and Food Services." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/industries/72

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Accommodation and Food Services. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/industries/72

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-72,
  title  = {Accommodation and Food Services},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/industries/72}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.