Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 35-1011

Chefs and Head Cooks

The published band from $37,900 to $98,560 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Cooks, All Other.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Chefs and Head Cooks: Cooks, All Other ($38K) , Cooks, Fast Food ($31K) , Dishwashers ($35K) , Cooks, Restaurant ($37K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Chefs and Head Cooks publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 35-1011 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Monitor sanitation practices to ensure that employees follow standards and regulations
  2. 2. Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food
  3. 3. Supervise or coordinate activities of cooks or workers engaged in food preparation
  4. 4. Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation
  5. 5. Inspect supplies, equipment, or work areas to ensure conformance to established standards
  6. 6. Check the quantity and quality of received products
  7. 7. Check the quality of raw or cooked food products to ensure that standards are met
  8. 8. Estimate amounts and costs of required supplies, such as food and ingredients
  9. 9. Coordinate planning, budgeting, or purchasing for all the food operations within establishments such as clubs, hotels, or restaurant chains
  10. 10. Analyze recipes to assign prices to menu items, based on food, labor, and overhead costs
  11. 11. Plan, direct, or supervise food preparation or cooking activities of multiple kitchens or restaurants in an establishment such as a resta…
  12. 12. Determine how food should be presented and create decorative food displays

Chefs and Head Cooks: O*NET ranks Coordination first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 35-1011 - lead skill Coordination at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Food Production. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Coordination 4.1
  2. 2. Monitoring 4.0
  3. 3. Speaking 3.9
  4. 4. Social Perceptiveness 3.9
  5. 5. Time Management 3.9
  6. 6. Management of Personnel Resources 3.9
  7. 7. Critical Thinking 3.8
  8. 8. Service Orientation 3.8

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Food Production 4.1
  2. 2. Production and Processing 4.0
  3. 3. Customer and Personal Service 3.9
  4. 4. Personnel and Human Resources 3.7
  5. 5. Administration and Management 3.7
  6. 6. Mathematics 3.5
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$37,900 to $98,560
median $62,470 · ~2.6× spread
$62K
National median
↑ +7%
Growth 2024-2034
24,400
Annual openings
200,040
Estimated US jobs
Cooks, All Other
Highest-pay peer · $38K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent
Related experience 5 years or more

Top Paying States for Chefs and Head Cooks

1. New York $70,670
2. Wyoming $73,170
3. New Jersey $74,280
4. South Carolina $71,860
5. Tennessee $69,810
6. Rhode Island $79,930
7. District of Columbia $76,420
8. Washington $76,010
9. North Dakota $74,740
10. Hawaii $77,360

Other Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations titles

  1. 1. Cooks, All Other $37,690
  2. 2. Dishwashers $34,810
  3. 3. Cooks, Restaurant $37,390
  4. 4. Cooks, Fast Food $30,890
  5. 5. Bartenders $34,340
  6. 6. Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other $35,840

The OEWS band for Chefs and Head Cooks runs from $37,900 (10th) to $98,560 (90th), about 2.6× wide, with median $62,470. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +7% change between 2024 and 2034 (faster than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 24,400 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as typical education needed for entry and 5 years or more as the typical related-work-experience category. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: New York at $70,670. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Cooks, All Other at $37,690. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Chefs and Head Cooks pay-rank #1 in Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations

Among 17 detailed Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations with a published OEWS median, Chefs and Head Cooks is pay-rank #1, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Chefs and Head Cooks is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Chefs and Head Cooks salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 35-1011

New York · top state for Chefs and Head Cooks

$71K published median

Wyoming · #2 state pay

$73K · behind New York

Cooks, All Other

Highest-pay peer vs Chefs and Head Cooks · $38K

Cooks, Fast Food

Lower-pay peer beside Chefs and Head Cooks · $31K

Compare Chefs and Head Cooks

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Chefs and Head Cooks with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations titles sit near Chefs and Head Cooks at the top of the pay table? ▼
Chefs and Head Cooks is pay-rank #1 of 17 detailed Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Cooks, Private Household ($48K), First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers ($44K), Cooks, All Other ($38K), Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria ($37K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do chefs and head cooks do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Chefs and Head Cooks. Leading ones include: Monitor sanitation practices to ensure that employees follow standards and regulations; Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food; Supervise or coordinate activities of cooks or workers engaged in food preparation; Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for chefs and head cooks? ▼
For SOC 35-1011, O*NET importance scores lead with Coordination (4.1), Monitoring (4.0), Speaking (3.9), Social Perceptiveness (3.9). Knowledge areas emphasize Food Production, Production and Processing, Customer and Personal Service. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Chefs and Head Cooks? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $37,900 and the 90th at $98,560 for Chefs and Head Cooks (2.6× spread). The national median is $62,470. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Chefs and Head Cooks? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Chefs and Head Cooks is +7%. Projected annual openings: about 24,400. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Chefs and Head Cooks? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Chefs and Head Cooks. Related-work-experience category: 5 years or more. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Chefs and Head Cooks? ▼
New York ($70,670), Wyoming ($73,170), New Jersey ($74,280) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Chefs and Head Cooks card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 35-1011. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Chefs and Head Cooks. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics