National

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average annual salary of a waitress in the United States was $20,790, and that the average hourly wage was $9.99, as of May 2010. This figure does not include any tips the waitress may have received. It is important to keep in mind that waiters often earn less than minimum wage before tips as well.
  
  

Texas

• The BLS website states that as of May 2010, the average annual salary of a waitress in Texas was $18,670, and that the hourly average wage was $8.98. The median hourly wage was $8.25.
  
  

Amarillo and Lubbock

• The annual salary for a waitress in Amarillo was $16,720 per year, or $8.04 on average as of May 2010, according to the BLS. In Lubbock, the annual salary averaged $18,550, or $8.92 per hour. The Sperling's Best Places website reports that, as of June 2011, the cost of living in Amarillo was 22.5 percent lower than the national average. Lubbock's cost of living was 23.8 percent lower than the national average.
  
  

Dallas and Houston

• The average annual salary of a waitress in Dallas was higher than either Lubbock or Amarillo at $19,830, or $9.54 per hour, according to the BLS as of May 2010. However, the cost of living in Dallas was only 3.1 percent lower than the national average as of June 2011, according to Sperling's Best Places website. The BLS reports that the average annual salary of a waitress in Houston was $18,980, or $9.13 per hour. The cost of living in Houston was 8.9 percent lower than the national average.