District of Columbia·Management Occupations·SOC 11-9051

Best Food Service Manager programs in District of Columbia, ranked by enrollment

Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that serves food and.

2 schools in District of Columbia run programs that feed this job, graduating 8 people a year. The job pays a median of $81,680 in District of Columbia across about 1,000 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledRestaurant ManagerFood Service ManagerFood Service DirectorF and B Manager (Food and Beverage Manager)Chef ManagerCook ManagerDeli ManagerMenu Planner
Graduates / yr
8
in District of Columbia
Median pay · District of Columbia
$81,680
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,000
people employed
Schools
2
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
33%
across those schools
Median net price
$18,868
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in District of Columbia that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in District of Columbia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in District of Columbia (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own District of Columbia page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
17
87.5%
1$34,218$23,364
21
12.5%
1$34,218$23,364

Top 2 schools in District of Columbia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 2 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of the District of Columbia
Washington, DC Public · 1 feeder programs
7Hospitality Administration/Management, Other33%
2University of the Potomac - Washington DC Campus
Washington, DC Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Hospitality Administration/Management, General33%$18,868

All 2 schools in District of Columbia

Every school in District of Columbia with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in District of Columbia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of the District of ColumbiaWashingtonPublic71
University of the Potomac - Washington DC CampusWashingtonPrivate for-profit11

What food service managers earn in District of Columbia

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in District of Columbia
$81,680
Mean annual
$95,280
Jobs in state
1,000
What the range looks like
10th pct$74,000Median$81,68090th pct$134,630
Versus the national median
+17.7%

U.S. median $69,390. District of Columbia pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.93×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in District of Columbia

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
$79,290median
3,300 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+6.4%
Faster than average
Openings per year
42,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
22,600
352,800 → 375,300
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus short-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Food Service Managers page.

How to become a Food Service Manager

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

MonitoringActive ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 10 majors mapped to Food Service Managers10 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 12.0504Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager
  • 12.0509Culinary Science/Culinology
  • 12.0510Wine Steward/Sommelier
  • 19.0505Foodservice Systems Administration/Management
  • 52.0901Hospitality Administration/Management, General
  • 52.0904Hotel/Motel Administration/Management
  • 52.0905Restaurant/Food Services Management
  • 52.0909Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Management
  • 52.0910Brewery/Brewpub Operations/Management
  • 52.0999Hospitality Administration/Management, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing food service managers programs in District of Columbia.

What degree do you need to become a Food Service Manager?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Hospitality Administration/Management, Other, which awarded 7 degrees in District of Columbia in 2024-25, 87.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Food Service Manager?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Hospitality Administration/Management. Together they graduate about 8 people a year in District of Columbia.

How much do food service managers earn in District of Columbia?+

The median is $81,680 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 17.7% above the U.S. median of $69,390. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for food service managers growing?+

BLS projects a +6.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 42,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in District of Columbia?+

2 institutions in District of Columbia reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do food service managers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Restaurant Manager, Food Service Manager, Food Service Director, F and B Manager (Food and Beverage Manager) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-9051.

Food Service Managers in other statesFloridaNew YorkCaliforniaTexasIndianaNevadaOhioAlabama
Programs in District of ColumbiaHospitality Administration/Management, Other

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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