Bar manager salary
In US bars, food service supervisors earn a median of about $45,000 a year, and food service managers about $67,000. A bar manager can fall into either group. The closest UK group's median is about £30,000. What you're responsible for decides which fits.
No government publishes pay for the job "bar manager", so every official figure comes from a wider job group. That is why two people can quote figures more than $20,000 apart and both be right. Australia's official figures are minimum award rates rather than an average bar manager salary. To choose yours, see "Which figure fits your job?" below.
Bar manager pay in the US
Two US job groups cover bar managers: food service managers and food service supervisors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes their pay in bars, which it calls "drinking places". The median is the middle figure: half earn more, half earn less. The chart shows the middle half of food service managers' pay, between the bottom quarter and the top quarter. Hotels are there to show how the type of venue moves pay.
| Occupation, in US bars | 10th percentile ($) | 25th ($) | Median ($) | 75th ($) | 90th ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food service managers (11-9051) | 43,260 | 51,990 | 67,320 | 85,770 | 107,460 |
| Food service supervisors (35-1012) | 27,300 | 34,180 | 44,820 | 57,670 | 70,260 |
| Bartenders, tips included (35-3011) | 18,370 | 25,980 | 33,300 | 46,050 | 65,680 |
Pay inside each group varies widely. The top tenth of food service managers in bars earn $107,460 or more. That is more than twice the bottom tenth ($43,260 or less).
These are gross wage estimates, not take-home pay. For hourly jobs, the annual figure generally assumes a full-time work year. Actual earnings depend on hours worked, and the BLS figures don't include overtime premiums.
Which figure fits your job?
The official US list of job titles puts "Bar Manager" under food service supervisors, with head waiters and kitchen supervisors. But judge your job by its duties, not its title. If you hire, buy the stock, set the menu and answer to the owner for the budget, use the figures for food service managers. If you run shifts under a general manager who does those things, use the figures for food service supervisors. The classification follows the work you actually do, not whichever pay figure seems closest.
Do bar managers make less than bartenders?
At the median, no. But a busy bartender can earn more. The median bartender in a bar earns $33,300 a year, tips included. The survey counts only tips that employers record, so a bartender's real pay can be higher.
The top 10% of bartenders in bars earn at least $65,680 in the BLS figures. That's close to the $67,320 median for food service managers. A move into management can therefore mean less money at first, even with more responsibility. Tips may fall or disappear, and a fixed salary doesn't automatically increase when Saturday night gets busy. And as a manager, you may have to leave the tip pool (see below).
Pay by venue and by state
The type of venue moves the median for food service managers by about $15,000. Of these three settings, bars have the lowest median pay for food service managers.
| Where food service managers work | Median annual pay, May 2025 ($) |
|---|---|
| Hotels and motels (traveler accommodation) | 82,240 |
| Full-service restaurants | 73,610 |
| Bars (drinking places) | 67,320 |
The state moves it even more. The median runs from $54,800 in West Virginia to $95,190 in Washington State. These state figures cover all industries, not bars alone.
| State | Median ($) |
|---|---|
| Washington | 95,190 |
| New York | 84,200 |
| California | 78,260 |
| Florida | 72,790 |
| Illinois | 63,930 |
| Texas | 60,770 |
| West Virginia | 54,800 |
Use the state figures to understand the wider local pay market, not as a quote for a bar manager in that state.
The size of the job moves pay too. Running a bar that has its own staff and buys its own stock is bigger than running the bar inside a restaurant. Running the drinks for several bars or a hotel is a beverage director's job.
How bar managers get paid
A bar manager is paid a salary or by the hour. In the US, being called a manager doesn't automatically remove your right to overtime on hours past 40 a week. Under the executive exemption in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, a manager is "exempt" (not owed overtime) only if the job passes two tests:
- Pay: a salary of at least $684 a week ($35,568 a year). Some states set a higher floor.
- Duties: managing is your main job, you regularly direct two or more full-time employees, and you can hire and fire or your employer relies on your advice about it.
The title does not decide it. The Department of Labor's example: "a beverage manager, supervising no one and earning a salary of $750/week, would not be exempt."
Other exemptions may apply, and some states have stricter requirements.
Tips are a separate question. Federal law doesn't allow managers or supervisors to keep employees' tips or take a share of a mandatory tip pool. The rule looks at the person's management duties, not at whether they're paid enough to be exempt from overtime. A manager can keep a tip received directly from a customer for service they provided entirely themselves: if they make and serve a guest's drink, they can keep that guest's tip. A shift lead who doesn't meet the legal definition of manager or supervisor may be able to join a tip pool. An owner with at least a 20% stake who actively manages the business also counts as a manager for tips. To split a night's tips by hours or by points, use the tip pool calculator.
A bonus can add to the salary. It should reward results the manager can actually influence: sales, labor scheduling, drink costs and inventory control are reasonable places to start. Agree on how each measure is calculated, including pour cost and the result of the stock count.
A supplier price increase can raise pour cost without a manager changing a single spec, and a gap in the stock count isn't necessarily a loss. Check the causes before deciding whether a target was met.
Bar manager salary in the UK
The UK's job classification puts "bar manager" under catering and bar managers. Their 2025 median for full-time staff is £29,789 a year. Pub managers and licensees have their own group, publicans and managers of licensed premises, with a median of £38,043. If you manage a pub, use their figure.
| Occupation, full-time employees (SOC 2020) | 25th percentile (£) | Median (£) | 75th percentile (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publicans and managers of licensed premises (1223) | n/a | 38,043 | n/a |
| Catering and bar managers (5436) | 26,380 | 29,789 | 36,691 |
| Bar and catering supervisors (9261) | 22,643 | 26,019 | 29,825 |
| Bar staff (9265) | 18,534 | 23,182 | n/a |
Publicans report more paid hours, which helps explain the difference in annual earnings: a median of 47.1 paid hours a week, compared with 39.9 for catering and bar managers. The hourly medians are much closer: £15.53 and £15.34.
Another government source, the National Careers Service, disagrees. It treats "bar manager" as another title for a publican: £27,000 at the start to £50,000 with experience, for 45 to 50 hours a week.
Bar manager salary in Australia
Australia doesn't publish a directly comparable national median for the job title "bar manager". The clearest official starting point is the minimum pay required under the award covering the role. The legal minimum comes from an award, which sets minimum pay for one industry. The Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 calls a pub a "general hotel". Its closest line is managerial staff in hotels. From July 1, 2026, the minimum is A$63,617 a year. In a pub, the award says, this level "is commonly known as an assistant manager". Venue managers and general managers are not covered. The A$63,617 is a minimum for one award classification, not an estimate of what Australian bar managers typically earn. Which award and classification apply depends on the venue and the work involved, so check the current award, any enterprise agreement and the weekend, holiday and overtime rules before using these figures in an offer.
| Hospitality award classification | Weekly (A$) | Hourly (A$) |
|---|---|---|
| Food and beverage attendant, grade 3 | 1,062.90 | 27.97 |
| Food and beverage supervisor (level 5) | 1,189.40 | 31.30 |
| Managerial staff, hotels | 1,223.39 | 32.19 |
Bars in clubs use a different award, the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020. Its club manager minimums run from A$63,672 to A$80,316 a year, by level.
Questions
What is a bar manager's hourly pay?
In US bars in May 2025, the median hourly pay was $32.37 for food service managers and $21.55 for food service supervisors. Bartenders in bars had a median of $16.01 an hour, including tips their employers report. All three are gross hourly wages.
Are bar owners included in these figures?
Mostly not. The US survey leaves out self-employed owners and partners in unincorporated businesses, but it can include salaried officers of an incorporated company. The UK survey covers employees only, so a publican who owns the pub is not counted.
What is the legal minimum wage in the UK?
The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over was £12.21 an hour in April 2025, when the ASHE survey took its figures. From April 2026 it is £12.71 an hour.
How often are these figures updated?
Once a year. The BLS publishes its May figures each spring, and the ONS publishes ASHE each autumn. Australian award rates change from the first full pay period that starts on or after July 1. We update this page when each one comes out.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: national industry-specific estimates (NAICS 722400, 722511, 721100) and state estimates. Released May 15, 2026. Figures read from the official files oesm25in4.zip and oesm25st.zip; tips are included in OEWS wages (Technical Notes).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS Technical Notes for May 2025 Estimates.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Standard Occupational Classification 2018: definitions and direct match title file.
- O*NET OnLine, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupation search for "bar manager".
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Earnings thresholds for the FLSA's executive, administrative, and professional exemptions.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Determining the Exemption Status of Managers and Assistant Managers in the Restaurant Industry.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
- Office for National Statistics, Earnings and hours worked, occupation by four-digit SOC: ASHE Table 14, 2025 provisional. Tables 14.7a (annual), 14.5a (hourly) and 14.9a (paid hours), full-time; coefficients of variation from Table 14.7b.
- Office for National Statistics, SOC 2020 Volume 2: the coding index.
- National Careers Service, Publican.
- GOV.UK, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Pay Guide: Hospitality Industry (General) Award [MA000009], published June 24, 2026.
- Fair Work Commission, Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020, clause 18.2 and Schedule A.2.9.
- Fair Work Commission, Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020, clause 18.3.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Annual Wage Review 2026.
- Jobs and Skills Australia, Hotel and Motel Managers (ANZSCO 1413), occupation profile.
About the authors
Sarah co-founded and ran Teresa Cocktail Bar, a Tales of the Cocktail nominee. She was also the first customer success hire at Loaded and now builds Overproof.