What Is the Common Wage for a Restaurant GM?
A restaurant survives because of the people scurrying around to set the table, take orders, cook the food, bring the food and clear the table, but behind all of that work is a hidden layer of staff overseeing everything -- the restaurant general managers. GMs deal with everything from hiring to menu changes to inventory to staff disputes, all in the same fast-paced environment as their workers. Even for general managers' salaries, the customer is always right.
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Manifold Managers
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At the helm of the country's thousands of restaurants, 190,250 general managers earned a median salary of $47,210 in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unlike the hourly personnel who work for them, general managers usually do not receive tips. At the highest end of the scale, general managers in the 90th percentile earned $78,910, while restaurant managers at the low end of the scale earned $29,810.
Mapping the Menus
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Restaurant general managers in Delaware earned the highest salaries in 2009, averaging $69,720. New Jersey paid its managers the second-highest salaries, at $66,180. In Washington, restaurant general managers earned $64,110, while Nevada's GMs earned $63,320. Nevada was also the fifth-highest per-capita employer of restaurant general managers (behind Tennessee, California, Maine and Minnesota, whose annual salaries didn't make the BLS top-five list). Also higher-than-average were the salaries paid to Massachusetts' GMs, at $61,290.
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Service Industries
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Although full-service restaurants were at the top of the BLS list of largest employers of restaurant general managers, their average salary of $53,750, while higher than the norm, didn't make the BLS highest-paying list. Grocery product merchant wholesalers actually paid the highest restaurant manager salaries in 2009, at $91,130, much higher than any other industry. Amusement parks and arcades paid $69,840, while general medical and surgical hospitals paid $68,940.
Getting to the Top
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Requirements for restaurant general managers vary by facility, franchise or chain. In some cases, the only thing required is experience with the restaurant, customers and menu, so servers and hosts may have the opportunity to work their way up the ranks. In other cases, management may require a bachelor's degree or higher in hospitality, business management or foodservice management. Two-year associate's degrees are also available, along with short-term certificate programs. The restaurant chain may send the prospective manager to a type of paid training course or camp as well.
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