Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 35-2013

Cooks, Private Household

The published band from $36,090 to $91,130 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Cooks, Private Household: First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers ($44K) , Cooks, Fast Food ($31K) , Cooks, Short Order ($36K) , Cooks, All Other ($38K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Cooks, Private Household publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 35-2013 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Peel, wash, trim, and cook vegetables and meats, and bake breads and pastries
  2. 2. Cool, package, label, and freeze foods for later consumption and provide instructions for reheating
  3. 3. Plan menus according to employers' needs and diet restrictions
  4. 4. Shop for or order food and kitchen supplies and equipment
  5. 5. Prepare meals in private homes according to employers' recipes or tastes, handling all meals for the family and possibly for other househ…
  6. 6. Keep records pertaining to menus, finances, and other business-related issues
  7. 7. Stock, organize, and clean kitchens and cooking utensils
  8. 8. Direct the operation and organization of kitchens and all food-related activities, including the presentation and serving of food
  9. 9. Specialize in preparing fancy dishes or food for special diets
  10. 10. Plan and prepare food for parties, holiday meals, luncheons, special functions, and other social events
  11. 11. Create and explore new cuisines
  12. 12. Serve meals and snacks to employing families and their guests

Cooks, Private Household: O*NET ranks Critical Thinking first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 35-2013 - lead skill Critical Thinking at 3.3 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Critical Thinking 3.3
  2. 2. Service Orientation 3.1
  3. 3. Reading Comprehension 3.0
  4. 4. Active Listening 3.0
  5. 5. Speaking 3.0
  6. 6. Monitoring 3.0
  7. 7. Social Perceptiveness 3.0
  8. 8. Complex Problem Solving 3.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.6
  2. 2. Food Production 4.1
  3. 3. Sales and Marketing 3.7
  4. 4. Administration and Management 3.1
  5. 5. Production and Processing 3.0
  6. 6. Mathematics 3.0
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$36,090 to $91,130
median $47,940 · ~2.5× spread
$48K
National median
↑ +5%
Growth 2024-2034
5,300
Annual openings
1,100
Estimated US jobs
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
Highest-pay peer · $44K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Postsecondary nondegree award
Related experience Less than 5 years

Top Paying States for Cooks, Private Household

1. New York $37,440

Other Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations titles

  1. 1. Cooks, Short Order $35,880
  2. 2. First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers $44,080
  3. 3. Cooks, Fast Food $30,890
  4. 4. Cooks, All Other $37,690
  5. 5. Fast Food and Counter Workers $31,200
  6. 6. Waiters and Waitresses $35,230

The OEWS band for Cooks, Private Household runs from $36,090 (10th) to $91,130 (90th), about 2.5× wide, with median $47,940. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +5% change between 2024 and 2034 (faster than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 5,300 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Postsecondary nondegree award as typical education needed for entry and less than 5 years 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 $37,440. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers at $44,080. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Cooks, Private Household pay-rank #2 in Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations

Among 17 detailed Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations with a published OEWS median, Cooks, Private Household is pay-rank #2, 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.

SOC 35-2013 · national median $47,940 · upper third of Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations (#2/17). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Cooks, Private Household salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 35-2013

New York · top state for Cooks, Private Household

$37K published median

First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers

Highest-pay peer vs Cooks, Private Household · $44K

Cooks, Fast Food

Lower-pay peer beside Cooks, Private Household · $31K

Compare Cooks, Private Household

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Cooks, Private Household 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 Cooks, Private Household at the top of the pay table? ▼
Cooks, Private Household is pay-rank #2 of 17 detailed Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers ($44K), Cooks, All Other ($38K), Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria ($37K), Cooks, Restaurant ($37K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do cooks, private household do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Cooks, Private Household. Leading ones include: Peel, wash, trim, and cook vegetables and meats, and bake breads and pastries; Cool, package, label, and freeze foods for later consumption and provide instructions for reheating; Plan menus according to employers' needs and diet restrictions; Shop for or order food and kitchen supplies and equipment. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for cooks, private household? ▼
For SOC 35-2013, O*NET importance scores lead with Critical Thinking (3.3), Service Orientation (3.1), Reading Comprehension (3.0), Active Listening (3.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Food Production, Sales and Marketing. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Cooks, Private Household? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $36,090 and the 90th at $91,130 for Cooks, Private Household (2.5× spread). The national median is $47,940. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Cooks, Private Household? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Cooks, Private Household is +5%. Projected annual openings: about 5,300. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Cooks, Private Household? ▼
BLS assigns Postsecondary nondegree award as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Cooks, Private Household. Related-work-experience category: less than 5 years. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Is state-level OEWS pay published for Cooks, Private Household? ▼
New York ($37,440) 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 Cooks, Private Household card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 35-2013. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Cooks, Private Household. 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