Restaurant Manager
Hospitality & Tourism
Run the staff, budget, and daily flow of a restaurant.
Why it matters here: Downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring dining scenes hire often.
Labor Market — DMV Region
Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.
Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.
- DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
- Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org
All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.
Education & Career Pathways
Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.
Career Progression
How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.
- Entry-level Restaurant ManagerLearning the role, supervised work, building core skills.$54,500
- Restaurant Manager (experienced)Independent work, mentoring newer team members.$69,010
- Senior / Lead Restaurant ManagerOwning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.$89,380
- Manager or specialist trackSupervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.$107,256
Skills Required
What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.
Dining room and kitchen floor, nights, weekends, long shifts
Where you work
The floor of a restaurant — dining room, host stand, bar and kitchen pass — plus a small office for scheduling and orders.
Hours and schedule
Nights, weekends and holidays; opening or closing shifts often run eleven or twelve hours.
Pace and pressure
Rush-driven: quiet setup, chaotic service, then the close-out and count.
Who you work with
You manage servers, hosts, bartenders and kitchen staff, and you're the buffer between front and back of house.
Physical demands
On your feet the whole shift, bussing tables and carrying stock during a rush.
What people wear
Business casual or restaurant uniform, non-slip shoes.
Remote reality
None.
Workplace culture: what's normal here
- Managers jump in — running food during a rush is how you keep the team's respect.
- Food safety logs and alcohol service laws are enforced strictly; violations close restaurants.
- Staff turnover is high, so constant training and retention effort is part of the role.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Work Environment, with regional detail for the DMV.
Official data behind this career
Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)
- The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
- The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.
Top places these workers go to work
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year
Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.
Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report
- 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
- 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
- 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
- 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.
Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.
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