Report: Wage growth for restaurant workers in Lancaster County has cooled down
Lancaster County restaurant workers saw an unprecedented level of wage growth over the last two years, but now the growth has calmed down quite a bit, according to Ara Kharazian, Square Research lead and principal developer of Square Payroll Index.
“In Lancaster, we’re now seeing wage growth around 2 to 3% annually for restaurant workers,” Kharazian said in an email. “That’s a far cry from the 15 to 20% wage growth we observed in 2022. The latest numbers are much more in line with the national trends we observed pre-pandemic.”
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Lancaster County restaurant worker average hourly pay: $12; $15.42 after tips and overtime.
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Pennsylvania Average: $12;$16 after tips and overtime
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U.S. Average: $14.04; $18.12 after tips and overtime
With 16,025 restaurant workers at its peak in July, Lancaster County ranked fifth in the state in the number of restaurant workers.
The average weekly pay of $416 for a restaurant worker ranks 16th in the state.
With 811 restaurant establishments in the third quarter of 2023, Lancaster County ranks seventh among counties for the number of establishments in the state.
Sources: Square Research and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages