250+ Hospitality & Food Service Jobs in Columbus, OH

Observed local wage data puts food preparation and serving roles at a mean $17.24/hour in Columbus as of May 2025. More recent posting samples show hourly roles centered on about $15 to $16 / hour, while salaried postings center on about $58k to $68k because the category also includes supervisors and managers. Statewide, mean offered salary on new hospitality openings was about $32,246 in July 2026 per Revelio Public Labor Statistics (n=1,374), versus about $76,183 across all Ohio openings, which shows how far this category sits below the broader white-collar market. Chef-specific estimates sit around $21.04 per hour or about $43,763 annually on average, with top-earning chef estimates around $78,333.

Full July 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 177 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $31,720 at the 25th percentile, $36,400 at the median and $40,560 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of September 11, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 250+ openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

Columbus is still a workable market for hospitality job seekers, but it is better for fast, on-site placement than for holding out for premium pay. Metro leisure and hospitality employment was up 1.2% year over year in the latest BLS reading, and Columbus unemployment was 3.2% in June 2026, which points to a still-tight local market. At the same time, Ohio-wide hospitality signals softened: Revelio Public Labor Statistics shows state employment down 1.0% year over year and active postings down 6.5% in July 2026. More than 450 local postings across more than 150 companies over the last 90 days suggest there is enough volume to land something, but not every opening will pay well.

Best positioned: Candidates with open availability, recent customer-facing or food-service experience, and willingness to work on-site across chains, hotels, or institutional food service have the best odds right now.

Main caution: The biggest mistake is treating manager-heavy posted salary bands as typical frontline pay; most sampled postings are entry-level, and hourly roles center on about $15 to $16 while salaried postings skew higher because they include supervisors and managers.

From the July 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 298 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Concord Hospitality Enterprises Co.: 15 open roles
2. Compass Group: 12 open roles
3. Bickford Senior Living: 9 open roles
4. Trinity Health: 9 open roles
5. Caesars Entertainment Corporation: 8 open roles
6. Crescent Hotels & Resorts: 8 open roles
7. Firstwatch: 7 open roles
8. Levy Restaurants, Inc.: 7 open roles
9. Mount Carmel Health System: 7 open roles
10. Wallick: 7 open roles

Where the openings are

• Columbus: 173
• Dublin: 30
• Westerville: 22
• New Albany: 19
• Hilliard: 12
• Worthington: 6
• Powell: 6
• Grove City: 5

Work arrangement

on-site 277 (100%), remote 1 (0%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is spread across a long list of employers rather than a single dominant chain. Columbus showed more than 450 postings across more than 150 companies over the last 90 days, and the employer mix is fragmented, which is good for job seekers willing to apply broadly. Within the sample, hospitality makes up about 40% of openings, food & beverage about 20%, restaurants about 15%, and healthcare about 10%. That mix matters. Restaurant and coffeehouse roles align with the most commonly requested skills—cash handling, customer service, beverage preparation, food preparation, food safety, and teamwork—so candidates who can show immediate shift readiness fit the thickest part of the market. Hotel demand is real but narrower: First Hospitality posted a Guest Service Representative role at Fairfield Inn & Suites Columbus Airport, and Hotel LeVeque sought a Food & Beverage Operations Manager with 2–3 years of progressive leadership experience. The result is a split market: broad access at the front line, tighter access in management. If you need speed, target high-volume operators; if you want better pay, target hotel or food-and-beverage leadership tracks and expect a higher screening bar.

• Chain coffee and quick-service (high): Large chains are visible in the sample, with Starbucks Corp. showing more than 50 postings, and the skill mix skews toward cash handling, customer service, and beverage preparation.
• Hotels and guest services (moderate): Hotel roles are present through local front-desk and food-and-beverage postings, but management openings can require prior leadership experience.
• Restaurants and bars (high): Restaurants represent about 15% of the sample and reward candidates who can prove food prep, food safety, and fast teamwork.
• Institutional and healthcare food service (moderate): Healthcare accounts for about 10% of sampled postings, offering a steadier source of kitchen and service work outside classic restaurant settings.

Where to focus: If your priority is landing work fast, focus first on enterprise chains, hotel front desk, and institutional food service; if your priority is pay growth, focus on leadership-track hotel and food-and-beverage roles.

Roles worth searching next

• Customer Service Representative: This uses the same customer service, communication, and problem-resolution strengths that show up repeatedly in local hospitality postings.
• Receptionist or Front Desk Coordinator: Hotel guest-service experience transfers well into office reception because both center on check-in style workflows, communication, and in-person issue handling; local front-desk demand is visible.
• Retail Shift Supervisor: Local hospitality demand already emphasizes cash handling, inventory management, teamwork, and customer service, which also map well to retail floor leadership.
• Patient Access or Service Representative: Healthcare already accounts for about 10% of sampled hospitality-related postings in Columbus, so service workers who want steadier environments have a plausible bridge.

What postings ask for

• Customer service (table_stakes | immediate): Customer service appears in about 20% of local postings, making it one of the clearest baseline screens across restaurant, hotel, and guest-facing roles. Who: Everyone, especially entry-level applicants and career switchers.
• Cash handling (table_stakes | immediate): Cash handling shows up in about 25% of local postings, so it is one of the quickest ways to prove you can be productive on day one. Who: Cashiers, baristas, hosts, front-desk candidates, and anyone applying to high-volume operators.
• Beverage preparation (differentiator | immediate): Beverage preparation appears in about 15% of local postings, which gives coffee, bar, and cafe applicants a useful edge in Columbus. Who: Barista, bartender, cafe, hotel lounge, and quick-service candidates.
• Food safety and ServSafe (differentiator | immediate): Food safety appears in about 10% of local skill mentions, and ServSafe is the most commonly required certification, though it shows up in only about 5% of postings. Who: Kitchen, catering, banquet, and supervisory applicants.
• Inventory management (differentiator | near-term): Inventory management appears in about 15% of local postings and is one of the clearest signs that a role is moving beyond pure frontline service. Who: Shift leads, assistant managers, kitchen leads, and candidates trying to move off pure hourly service work.
• Food-and-beverage team leadership (premium | near-term): A recent local hotel food-and-beverage management opening required 2–3 years of progressive leadership experience, which signals that better-paying hospitality jobs are screening for proven supervision. Who: Mid-career applicants and experienced shift leads trying to move into management.

Questions about this market

What do Hospitality, Food Service & Travel roles pay in Columbus, OH?

Observed local wage data puts food preparation and serving roles at a mean $17.24/hour in Columbus as of May 2025. More recent posting samples show hourly roles centered on about $15 to $16 / hour, while salaried postings center on about $58k to $68k because the category also includes supervisors and managers. Statewide, mean offered salary on new hospitality openings was about $32,246 in July 2026 per Revelio Public Labor Statistics (n=1,374), versus about $76,183 across all Ohio openings, which shows how far this category sits below the broader white-collar market. Chef-specific estimates sit around $21.04 per hour or about $43,763 annually on average, with top-earning chef estimates around $78,333. For most applicants, this is a moderate-pay market. Easy-to-access roles cluster in the mid-teens hourly, while noticeably better compensation tends to show up once you move into kitchen leadership, hotel operations, or multi-site management.

Where is demand for Hospitality, Food Service & Travel roles in Columbus, OH concentrated?

Real opportunity is spread across a long list of employers rather than a single dominant chain. Columbus showed more than 450 postings across more than 150 companies over the last 90 days, and the employer mix is fragmented, which is good for job seekers willing to apply broadly. Within the sample, hospitality makes up about 40% of openings, food & beverage about 20%, restaurants about 15%, and healthcare about 10%. That mix matters. Restaurant and coffeehouse roles align with the most commonly requested skills—cash handling, customer service, beverage preparation, food preparation, food safety, and teamwork—so candidates who can show immediate shift readiness fit the thickest part of the market. Hotel demand is real but narrower: First Hospitality posted a Guest Service Representative role at Fairfield Inn & Suites Columbus Airport, and Hotel LeVeque sought a Food & Beverage Operations Manager with 2–3 years of progressive leadership experience. The result is a split market: broad access at the front line, tighter access in management. If you need speed, target high-volume operators; if you want better pay, target hotel or food-and-beverage leadership tracks and expect a higher screening bar.

Which employers are hiring the most Hospitality, Food Service & Travel talent in Columbus, OH?

Recent postings show the most activity from Starbucks Corp. (50 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Hospitality, Food Service & Travel roles in Columbus, OH be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 2% are remote and 2% hybrid, with 95% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

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Other roles in Columbus, OH

• Protective Services & Public Safety
• Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations
• Operations, Supply Chain & Logistics
• Design, Creative & UX
• Marketing, Communications & Content
• Healthcare Practitioners
• Data, Analytics & AI
• Education & Training

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