# Accommodation and Food Services

> Sector (NAICS 72) — 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.


- **NAICS code:** 72
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/industries/72
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap, not jobs lost. Figures aggregate over the occupations employed in this industry, each traced to a named public dataset.

## Scale & pay

- **Employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** 14,233,950 across 269 occupations.
- **Typical annual wage (employment-weighted median):** $35,395.

## AI exposure

- **AI task-overlap (employment-weighted across 231 occupations):** 25th percentile (Low) — Eloundou GPT-overlap + Felten AIOE; task overlap, not automation.

## Largest occupations

- Fast Food and Counter Workers (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-3023-00) — 3,313,790 employed; $30,140
- Waiters and Waitresses (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-3031-00) — 2,116,650 employed; $33,710
- Cooks, Restaurant (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-2014-00) — 1,356,300 employed; $36,750
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-1012-00) — 1,010,610 employed; $39,520
- Cooks, Fast Food (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-2011-00) — 647,470 employed; $30,140
- Bartenders (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-3011-00) — 588,740 employed; $34,020
- Food Preparation Workers (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-2021-00) — 515,940 employed; $33,280
- Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-37-2012-00) — 436,460 employed; $34,150
- Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-9011-00) — 434,050 employed; $32,280
- Dishwashers (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-9021-00) — 407,320 employed; $33,600
- Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-9031-00) — 404,440 employed; $30,220
- Cashiers (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-41-2011-00) — 327,250 employed; $29,580
- Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-43-4081-00) — 249,430 employed; $34,170
- General and Operations Managers (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-11-1021-00) — 221,240 employed; $63,460
- Food Service Managers (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-11-9051-00) — 208,270 employed; $63,800
- Driver/Sales Workers (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-3031-00) — 183,980 employed; $29,850
- Chefs and Head Cooks (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-1011-00) — 142,030 employed; $60,580
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-9071-00) — 131,030 employed; $38,380
- Cooks, Short Order (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-2015-00) — 124,350 employed; $35,620
- Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (https://singulariki.com/roles/role-37-2011-00) — 110,950 employed; $36,350

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **Census NAICS** (2022) — U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/naics/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-03T03:26:54.804143+00:00. https://singulariki.com/industries/72_