Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 35-2015

Cooks, Short Order

O*NET task statements lead this Cooks, Short Order card before OEWS pay; neighboring titles include Chefs and Head Cooks, Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop, Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria, Bartenders.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Cooks, Short Order: Chefs and Head Cooks ($62K) , Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop ($31K) , Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria ($37K) , Bartenders ($34K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Cooks, Short Order publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 35-2015 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables
  2. 2. Grill and garnish hamburgers or other meats, such as steaks and chops
  3. 3. Restock kitchen supplies, rotate food, and stamp the time and date on food in coolers
  4. 4. Complete orders from steam tables, placing food on plates and serving customers at tables or counters
  5. 5. Plan work on orders so that items served together are finished at the same time
  6. 6. Grill, cook, and fry foods such as french fries, eggs, and pancakes
  7. 7. Perform food preparation tasks, such as making sandwiches, carving meats, making soups or salads, baking breads or desserts, and brewing…
  8. 8. Perform general cleaning activities in kitchen and dining areas
  9. 9. Take orders from customers and cook foods requiring short preparation times, according to customer requirements
  10. 10. Order supplies and stock them on shelves
  11. 11. Accept payments, and make change or write charge slips as necessary

Cooks, Short Order: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 35-2015 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 3.1 ; lead knowledge Food Production. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 3.1
  2. 2. Active Listening 3.1
  3. 3. Time Management 3.1
  4. 4. Speaking 3.0
  5. 5. Coordination 3.0
  6. 6. Service Orientation 3.0
  7. 7. Critical Thinking 2.9
  8. 8. Monitoring 2.9

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Food Production 4.0
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 3.4
  3. 3. English Language 3.2
  4. 4. Production and Processing 2.6
  5. 5. Communications and Media 2.5
  6. 6. Chemistry 2.4
National median after O*NET task lead
$35,880
/year · 11 published task lines above
Lead task: Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables
$36K
National median
↓ -6%
Growth 2024-2034
20,600
Annual openings
138,650
Estimated US jobs
Chefs and Head Cooks
Highest-pay peer · $62K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education No formal educational credential

Top Paying States for Cooks, Short Order

1. Colorado $42,450
2. District of Columbia $42,450
3. Connecticut $42,450
4. Rhode Island $46,250
5. California $42,930
6. Massachusetts $44,290
7. Hawaii $43,110
8. Washington $42,760
9. Arizona $46,630
10. New Jersey $40,720

Other Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations titles

  1. 1. Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria $37,450
  2. 2. Bartenders $34,340
  3. 3. Waiters and Waitresses $35,230
  4. 4. Chefs and Head Cooks $62,470
  5. 5. Cooks, Restaurant $37,390
  6. 6. Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop $31,200

O*NET publishes 11 leading task statements for Cooks, Short Order (SOC 35-2015). The national OEWS median is $35,880 inside Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations. Same-group neighbors: Chefs and Head Cooks, Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop, Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria, Bartenders. Lead published task: Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables.

Employment Projections expect -6% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). About 20,600 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns No formal educational credential as typical education needed for entry. 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: Colorado at $42,450. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Chefs and Head Cooks at $62,470. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Cooks, Short Order pay-rank #7 in Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations

Cooks, Short Order sits at pay-rank #7 of 17 detailed Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table 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 35-2015 · national median $35,880 · middle third of Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations (#7/17). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Cooks, Short Order salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 35-2015

Colorado · top state for Cooks, Short Order

$42K published median

District of Columbia · #2 state pay

$42K · behind Colorado

Chefs and Head Cooks

Highest-pay peer vs Cooks, Short Order · $62K

Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop

Lower-pay peer beside Cooks, Short Order · $31K

Compare Cooks, Short Order

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Cooks, Short Order with another occupation →

Role and task next reads

Cooks, Short Order full salary map

State and metro OEWS after the task lead

Compare tasks and pay

Side-by-side with another occupation

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Cooks, Short Order mid-table among Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #7 of 17 detailed Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other ($36K), Food Servers, Nonrestaurant ($35K), Food Preparation Workers ($35K), Waiters and Waitresses ($35K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do cooks, short order do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Cooks, Short Order. Leading ones include: Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables; Grill and garnish hamburgers or other meats, such as steaks and chops; Restock kitchen supplies, rotate food, and stamp the time and date on food in coolers; Complete orders from steam tables, placing food on plates and serving customers at tables or counters. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for cooks, short order? ▼
For SOC 35-2015, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (3.1), Active Listening (3.1), Time Management (3.1), Speaking (3.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Food Production, Customer and Personal Service, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Cooks, Short Order? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $35,880 as the national median for Cooks, Short Order. The published 10th-90th range is $23,440 to $46,460. Beside Chefs and Head Cooks ($62,470), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Cooks, Short Order? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Cooks, Short Order is -6%. Projected annual openings: about 20,600. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Cooks, Short Order? ▼
BLS assigns No formal educational credential as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Cooks, Short Order. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Cooks, Short Order? ▼
Colorado ($42,450), District of Columbia ($42,450), Connecticut ($42,450) 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, Short Order card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 35-2015. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Cooks, Short Order. 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