Usher Job Description: Template, Duties, Requirements & Pay (2026)
An usher is the person between the ticket and the seat: scanning tickets, showing people where to sit, answering questions, and getting everyone out safely if something goes wrong. Venues, theaters, stadiums and event companies all hire them, usually part-time and event by event. Below is a copy-paste usher job description template, what the role pays by setting, the federal age rules that decide who can work your evening events, and what it costs to reach event staff on social.
What an usher does
The federal occupation is ushers, lobby attendants and ticket takers, and O*NET's task list for it is a fair description of a real shift: greet patrons, examine and scan tickets and refuse entry to people without them, help people find their seats, assist patrons with special needs such as wheelchair users, settle seating disputes, search for lost articles or the parents of lost children, count tickets collected, keep the area clean, and "guide patrons to exits or provide other instructions or assistance in case of emergency". At smaller venues the same person may run a refreshment stand during intermission.
That last emergency duty is the one most postings leave out and the one the venue most needs. An usher may be the nearest staff member to a section when an alarm sounds. Candidates should know from the posting that they will be trained on evacuation routes and expected to use them.
The BLS projects employment in this occupation to be nearly flat over the decade, rising from about 124,500 to 125,600 jobs, yet it still projects about 27,300 openings a year. Almost none of those openings come from growth; they come from people leaving the job or moving to another occupation. That is what an usher posting is really up against: the job refills constantly, so the posting and the application have to be quick enough to keep up.
Usher job description template
Copy this into your ATS, replace the bracketed fields, and delete what does not apply. Event-based candidates decide on pay, which events, and how shifts are offered, so those come first.
Job title
Usher / Event Staff — [Venue name], [Part-time / Seasonal / Per-event]
Summary
[Venue] is hiring ushers for [concerts, games and shows] at [venue, city, state]. Pay is $[XX.XX]/hour, and most shifts run from [doors, about 90 minutes before start] until the venue clears. You pick the events you work from our [scheduling app]; we ask for at least [X] shifts a month during [season]. Paid training covers ticket scanning, seating, accessibility assistance and evacuation procedures.
Responsibilities
- Greet guests, scan tickets and direct people to their sections and seats
- Help guests with accessibility needs, including wheelchair seating and companion seating
- Answer questions about restrooms, concessions, exits and [re-entry policy]
- Resolve seating disputes and escalate problems to a supervisor or [security]
- Keep aisles and exits clear; know the evacuation route for your section and lead guests out in an emergency
- Log lost-and-found items and help reunite lost children with their families
- Count or report tickets scanned and complete end-of-event checks
- [Staff concessions or merchandise when assigned]
Requirements
- At least [16 / 18] years old [see age note below before choosing]
- Available for evenings, weekends and [holidays]; able to stay until the venue clears
- Able to stand and walk for [5–6] hours and climb stairs in [seating bowl / balcony]
- Friendly, clear communication with large crowds
- Pass a background check [if required by venue policy]
Preferred
- Customer service, retail, restaurant or event experience
- Conversational [language]
- [CPR / First Aid] (we can certify you)
Schedule and pay
- $[XX.XX]/hour; [premium pay for doubleheaders / holidays]
- Shifts posted [two weeks] ahead; pick up and drop shifts in [app]
- [Minimum shift length: X hours, paid if an event is canceled after arrival]
- [Free parking / transit pass / meal on shift]
Benefits
- [Free tickets to select events]
- [Uniform provided]
- [Employee discount on concessions and merchandise]
- [Path to lead usher or supervisor]
Requirements: what to keep, what to soften, and what to add
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| Minimum age | Set it deliberately; the federal hours rules below decide which ages can actually work your events. A "16+" line with evening-only shifts is consistent. A "14+" line with 7:30 p.m. curtains during the school year is not. |
| Event availability | Keep it and make it concrete. "Available evenings and weekends" is vague; "at least four events a month, April through September" lets people self-select before you spend an interview on them. |
| Standing and stairs | Keep it with numbers. Upper-deck and balcony sections involve real stair climbing. Say how long a typical shift is on your feet. |
| Customer service experience | Soften to preferred. The job is trainable in a shift or two, and the people who apply for event work are often students, retirees and people with day jobs. |
| Transportation | Replace "reliable transportation" with the real answer. Events end late, sometimes after transit service thins out. Free parking, a transit pass or a ride policy is a recruiting line. |
| Résumé upload | Remove it. Name, phone, age band, availability and which events they want are enough to schedule orientation. |
The age question: federal rules for evening events
Many venues hire teenagers, and the federal child labor rules shape which shifts they can take. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as summarized in the U.S. Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #43, 14- and 15-year-olds may work no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a non-school week, and only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. — extended to 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day. For most concerts, games and shows, a 7 p.m. cutoff rules out the whole shift.
Whether a 14- or 15-year-old can do usher work at all also depends on the list of occupations federal rules permit at that age, 29 CFR 570.34; check it against the duties you assign before posting a 14+ minimum. At 16 and 17, the federal rules set no limit on hours or times of day for non-hazardous work. Many states add their own hour and permit rules on top — see our child labor laws by state guide. This is not legal advice; check your state's labor department before you post.
How to customize it for your setting
Movie theaters
The motion picture and video industries employ more ushers than any other setting we checked — 52,830 of the occupation's 121,770 in May 2025 — at the lowest median of the three: $14.70 an hour. The job usually combines ticket-taking, concessions and cleaning between shows, so post it as the combined role it is.
Stadiums and arenas
Spectator sports employed 5,840 ushers at a $15.00 median. Crews are large and event-based, and the season sets the calendar. Say how many games a season you expect, whether playoff dates are required, and what happens to pay when a game is rained out.
Theaters and performing arts venues
O*NET's task list includes scheduling a "volunteer usher corps", and many performing arts venues run one. If you pay, say so in the title — "Paid Usher" — because candidates who have only seen volunteer usher calls may assume yours is one too.
Event and promotion companies
Promoters of performing arts, sports and similar events paid the highest median of the three settings, $16.95 an hour, across 21,250 ushers. Staff often move between venues, so name the venues, the travel expectations and how shifts are offered.
| Setting | Employed | Median hourly | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| All settings | 121,770 | $15.82 | $32,910 |
| Motion picture and video industries | 52,830 | $14.70 | $30,580 |
| Promoters of performing arts, sports and similar events | 21,250 | $16.95 | $35,260 |
| Spectator sports | 5,840 | $15.00 | $31,200 |
What it costs to reach ushers on social
Our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark (891 Boostpoint-managed campaigns on Meta) does not segment ushers or event staff, so there is no usher-specific figure to quote. Across all roles, the median campaign cost $13.88 per applicant, and the middle half of campaigns landed between $6.48 and $29.74.
That is advertising cost only; it buys an applicant, not a hire. For event staff the more useful lever is timing: a short, form-based application launched a few weeks before the season opens, with a group orientation date already on the calendar. The mechanics of filling a whole crew at once are in our mass hiring guide.
If you are staffing events rather than describing the job, the recruiting side — where hourly frontline workers are, what the ad has to say, and how to fill shifts fast — is on our frontline recruiting page, with venue-specific detail in hospitality recruiting.
Writing the ad version
The ad on Facebook or Instagram has to do what the template cannot: make the job feel like a fit for someone's week. Lead with pay, the kind of events and the flexibility. Something like: "Event Ushers — $17/hr. Concerts and games downtown. Pick your shifts in the app. Paid training. 16+. Apply in 60 seconds."
Keep the form to availability, age band and commute. If you are running a hiring event or group orientation, put the date in the ad itself — our guide to promoting a hiring event shows how, and how to fill open shifts covers the weeks when a crew comes up short.
Frequently asked questions
What does an usher do?
An usher greets guests, scans or checks tickets, shows people to their seats, answers questions about restrooms, concessions and exits, helps guests with accessibility needs, settles seating disputes, handles lost items and lost children, and guides people out in an emergency. In movie theaters the role is often combined with concessions and cleaning between shows, so the posting should say which duties apply.
How much do ushers get paid?
The BLS median for ushers, lobby attendants and ticket takers was $15.82 an hour, or $32,910 a year, in May 2025. Pay varies by setting: medians were $14.70 an hour in the motion picture and video industries, $15.00 in spectator sports, and $16.95 at promoters of performing arts, sports and similar events.
How old do you have to be to work as an usher?
Federal law does not set one usher-specific age, but the Fair Labor Standards Act limits 14- and 15-year-olds to work between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 to Labor Day) and to 3 hours on a school day, which rules out most evening events. At 16 and 17 there are no federal hour limits for non-hazardous work. States often add their own rules.
What qualifications does an usher need?
No formal educational credential, according to the BLS. Most venues look for availability on evenings and weekends, the ability to stand and climb stairs for several hours, and friendly communication with crowds. Customer service experience helps but is trainable. Some venues run background checks, and some provide CPR or first aid training.
Is usher a good part-time job to advertise on social media?
It suits social advertising well because the people who want event work, such as students, retirees and people with day jobs, are rarely searching job boards for it. Our benchmark does not segment ushers, but the median campaign across all roles cost $13.88 per applicant. Short forms and a set orientation date keep that cost down.
Staffing the same events with security as well as ushers? The security guard job description covers the licensed role that handles bag checks and incidents, and our guide to hiring security guards covers where to find them.
Other job description templates
- Security guard job description
- Concierge job description
- Valet attendant job description
- Hostess job description
- Cashier job description
See all job description templates — free, editable templates for frontline, trades, healthcare and warehouse roles.
Hiring ushers and event staff?
The job description is the document; the ad is what gets read. We write it, run it where event workers are actually scrolling, and report what each applicant cost — cost per applicant, not cost per hire.
Pay and employment, national and by industry: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, ushers, lobby attendants and ticket takers (SOC 39-3031), read via the BLS OEWS data search; projections, openings and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35; tasks: O*NET 39-3031.00. Youth hours: U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #43 and 29 CFR 570.34. All read at source on September 28, 2026. Cost-per-applicant figures: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark (891 Boostpoint-managed campaigns on Meta), report-wide figures only because the benchmark does not segment ushers; advertising costs only. Cost per applicant is not cost per hire. Updated September 2026.