Labor Market Pulse · Restaurant Industry · August 2026
Restaurant Industry Labor Market Report: Lawrence, KS MSA — August 2026
Lawrence GM pay outruns the national market as assistant pay slides.
Lawrence Restaurant Manager/General Manager pay climbed to $64,161 against a falling $59,762 national median, even as Kansas leisure and hospitality employment shed 1,000 jobs in August.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of August 2026.
Key indicators
- Lawrence MSA unemployment rate: 3.5% — Seasonally adjusted, Dec 2025; tight local labor market
- Kansas leisure & hospitality jobs: -1,000 — August 2026 monthly change, state largest sector loss
- National restaurant payroll gain: +59,200 — Largest single-month gain since January 2023
- Restaurant Manager/GM pay gap: $64,161 vs $59,762 — Lawrence up moderately vs national down moderately
Key takeaways
Lawrence GM pay is diverging sharply from the national market.
Restaurant Manager/General Manager advertised pay sits at $64,161 locally, up moderately, against a national median of $59,762 that is falling. Operators benchmarking against national data alone risk underpricing the local leadership role by roughly $4,400.
Assistant manager pay is dropping just as GM pay climbs.
Assistant Restaurant Manager advertised pay fell significantly to $37,637, well below the $39,000 national median, while the GM role above it strengthened. Widening compression between the two tiers may erode the promotion incentive that keeps assistant managers from leaving for competitor GM roles.
Crew pay softness contrasts with a tightening leisure labor pool.
Crew advertised pay dropped moderately to $27,083 even as Kansas leisure and hospitality employment contracted by 1,000 jobs in August. A shrinking labor pool alongside falling advertised pay is an unusual combination worth testing against actual fill times before assuming it reflects genuine slack.
Catering Manager demand looks like a banquet and event bet, not a core-menu one.
Catering Manager pay rose significantly to $48,262 locally, outpacing the national trend, which is stable. Rising demand for this role likely tracks university and event-driven business tied to KU's academic calendar rather than day-to-day restaurant operations.
Median advertised pay by role — Lawrence, KS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assistant Restaurant Manager | $29,120 | $37,637 | $40,523 | Significant decline | $39,000 |
| Catering Manager | $44,000 | $48,262 | $48,308 | Significant increase | $51,585 |
| Crew | $24,167 | $27,083 | $28,167 | Moderate decline | $29,791 |
| Line Cook | $29,749 | $33,800 | $35,471 | Stable | $36,702 |
| Restaurant Manager/General Manager | $56,000 | $64,161 | $82,431 | Moderate increase | $59,762 |
| Server | $28,592 | $33,322 | $34,986 | Moderate increase | $34,915 |
| Shift Manager | $28,232 | $31,406 | $32,391 | Stable | $32,649 |
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Local market conditions
Lawrence's leisure and hospitality sector is pulling against the state trend — Kansas shed 1,000 leisure and hospitality jobs in August even as the metro's broader nonfarm base kept expanding on the strength of a University of Kansas-anchored economy running near full employment at 3.5% seasonally adjusted. That tightness collides with a national restaurant hiring rebound of 59,200 jobs in August, the largest single-month gain since January 2023, meaning Lawrence operators are competing for workers against a national market that just got more aggressive about headcount.
What it means
Restaurant Manager/General Manager advertised pay in Lawrence has risen to $64,161, running well above the $59,762 national median even as that figure declines nationally — a signal that local operators are bidding up management compensation to retain scarce leadership talent while national chains pull back. Front-of-house pay strength (Server up moderately to $33,322, Catering Manager up significantly to $48,262) against back-of-house softness (Line Cook flat, Assistant Restaurant Manager down significantly to $37,637) suggests labor cost pressure is concentrating in customer-facing and leadership roles rather than kitchen staff. Consider reviewing management compensation structures against this metro's premium-to-national gap before assuming national softening in GM pay applies locally.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Kansas's minimum wage remains $7.25 with a $2.13 tipped floor, unchanged since 2009, while neighboring Missouri and a growing list of states eliminate tip credit entirely. Watch whether cross-border wage differentials near Kansas City pull tipped talent out of the Lawrence market.
Potential inflection point: Full-service restaurant employment nationally remains 3.6% below pre-pandemic levels but is expanding at a stronger pace in recent months. Lawrence operators planning Q4 seasonal staffing should track whether that national full-service recovery shows up locally in server and line cook advertised pay.
Emerging pressure point: Only 49% of restaurant operators nationally plan to increase 2026 staff, down from 60% in 2025, even after August's hiring surge. A pullback in hiring intent alongside Lawrence's tightening leisure labor pool could sharpen retention stakes for existing front-of-house and back-of-house staff.
Early indicator: Kansas leisure and hospitality lost 1,000 jobs in August while overall state nonfarm payrolls grew by 1,900. Confirm whether this is a seasonal University of Kansas academic-calendar effect or an early signal of demand softening before locking in Q4 staffing plans.
Methodology
Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
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