Hospitality and bar work at events: pay and how to get hired
Bar and hospitality staff serve drinks and look after guests at concerts, stadiums, conferences and festivals. There are 1,174 live hospitality and bar jobs on Event Job Site right now, the biggest role on the site. In the US, jobs that list an hourly rate pay a median of $16.00 an hour (571 jobs).
What the work is
You pour and serve drinks, take payments (usually card only at big venues), keep the bar stocked and clean, and check ID before serving alcohol.
Premium and hospitality suites add table service, setting up and clearing, and looking after guests for a whole event.
Shifts follow the event: a concert shift often starts an hour or two before doors open and ends after the last drinks are cleared.
What it pays
By city
| City | Median per hour | Middle half | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $18.00 | $14.00 to $20.00 | 11 |
| Los Angeles, California | $19.50 | $18.90 to $24.13 | 20 |
| Hartford, Connecticut | $16.94 | $16.00 to $18.00 | 18 |
| Baltimore, Maryland | $12.50 | $10.00 to $15.00 | 14 |
Where the jobs are
What helps you get hired
- In the UK, alcohol may only be sold under a premises licence, and a personal licence is what lets someone authorise sales or act as the venue's designated premises supervisor. Bar supervisor and manager roles often ask for one; you need an accredited Level 2 qualification to apply. (Source: GOV.UK, Alcohol licensing)
- Be ready to prove your right to work on your first shift. (Source: GOV.UK, Prove your right to work to an employer)
- On US jobs, check whether the hourly pay is before tips: tipped staff can be paid a lower cash wage. (Source: US Department of Labor, Minimum wages for tipped employees)
- Past bar or till work, being comfortable on your feet for a full shift, and being free on event days (evenings and weekends) matter more than formal qualifications.
How we worked this out
We used every live job on Event Job Site: 3,543 jobs today, most of them listed from the employers' own careers pages and the rest posted with us directly. 1,429 of them list pay, 1,415 as an hourly rate.
Pay figures use hourly rates only, in the currency the employer gives. Where a job gives a range, we use the lower figure. We show the median (half of jobs pay more, half less) and the middle half of rates, so one unusual listing can't skew the picture. A role or place is shown only when at least 10 jobs list an hourly rate; smaller groups are left out rather than guessed.
The figures refresh from live jobs as employers post and close jobs. The "Figures updated" date at the top is when a figure last changed.
Questions people ask
How much do hospitality and bar jobs at events pay?
In the US, the median is $16.00 an hour and half of jobs pay between $12.00 and $18.90, from 571 live jobs that list an hourly rate. In the UK: median £14.85 (10 jobs).
Where are most hospitality and bar jobs?
Tampa, Florida (36), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (30), Dallas, Texas (25) and Las Vegas, Nevada (24).