WestwardAI Consulting

Local market data · Catering companies · New York

AI for catering companies in New York

The New York metro area had 1,277 catering companies in 2022, the most of all 320 US metros and 10% of all in the country. They employed 19,562 people at an average of $35,293 a year. 70% have fewer than 10 staff, so the same few people answer the phone, book, follow up and do the paperwork. Those are the jobs AI tools take on today.

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Catering companies in New York vs the US

New York metroUnited States
Businesses1,27713,046
People employed19,562136,136
Average staff per business15.310.4
Average yearly pay per employee$35,293$31,342
Share with fewer than 10 staff70%73%

Pay here is 13% higher than the national average for catering companies, so every hour of staff time costs more to spend on admin. The average catering company here has 15.3 people on payroll, 47% higher than the US figure of 10.4.

How big catering companies in New York are

Fewer than 5 staff700 (55%) US 55%
5 to 9189 (15%) US 17%
10 to 19153 (12%) US 13%
20 to 49131 (10%) US 10%
50 or more103 (8%) US 4%

Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.

Catering companies by county in the New York area

Kings County has the most, with 177 of the metro's 1,277 (14%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, New York ranks 3rd for average pay and 7th for the share of small firms.

CountyBusinessesEmployeesAvg pay
Kings County1771,755$35,702
New York County1452,960$48,427
Queens County1371,364$34,977
Nassau County1222,900$30,387
Bergen County991,345$36,654
Suffolk County831,255$33,222
Westchester County62902$34,051
Monmouth County57589$29,093
Middlesex County51556$29,207
Essex County48615$42,010
Rockland County42972$33,269
Ocean County41713$25,722

10 smaller counties not shown. Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.

Where AI helps a catering company first

A catering company wins or loses on speed and detail: the inquiry answered the same day, the proposal that matches the headcount, the final guest count nobody forgot to chase. AI can gather event details, draft proposals, chase deposits and turn each booked event into prep and shopping lists. A person approves every proposal and menu before it goes out.

What your team's admin hours cost in New York

Change any number. The starting values are the New York averages above; the hours and the share are yours to set.

Those hours cost you$102,000 a year

The share you would hand off$30,600 a year

Hours your team gets back1,800 a year

See what we would build for this

Guides for catering companies, one job each

Catering companies in other big metros

MetroBusinessesAvg payRank of 387
Los Angeles757$32,5602nd
Chicago439$33,9304th
Miami453$28,7493rd
Dallas254$35,00610th
Houston247$28,29611th
Atlanta274$31,3109th
Washington276$39,0328th
Philadelphia309$33,7506th
Boston308$44,4827th

Where these numbers come from

From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 722320 (Caterers), for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area (22 counties). It counts businesses with paid employees in March 2022, so solo owners with no payroll are not in it. Average pay is total yearly payroll divided by employees. The calculator uses 50 working weeks and 2,080 hours a year. Page checked 2026-11-12.

Find the hours your catering company can get back

A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your catering company to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.

Related businesses in New York

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