Those figures might not be quite that high. Actually, the site you linked says "The average wage for a Waiter/Waitress is AU $15.84 per hour (median is $16.45 A

Those figures might not be quite that high. Actually, the site you linked says "The average wage for a Waiter/Waitress is AU $15.84 per hour (median is $16.45 AUD)" [1] But you're right, AU front-end staff are paid higher wages, even after adjusting for currency exchange rate: $16 AUD = 12.50 USD Maybe median income accounts for this? Different sources are giving different numbers for median income, but google is saying that... AU median household income in 2014 was $80,704 US median household income in 2014 was $53,719 [1] https://goo.gl/3qQb5u https://goo.gl/3qQb5u