Cooks, Restaurant in Norwich-New London-Willimantic

BLS metro-level wage data places Cooks, Restaurant pay in Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT at a median of $38,180 per year ($18.36/hr/hour), drawn from the OEWS May 2025 release for this Metropolitan Statistical Area. Compared to the national median of $37,390, Norwich-New London-Willimantic pays +2% above, signaling either concentrated employer demand, a cost-of-living premium, or both. Approximately 1,670 cooks, restaurants are employed across the Norwich-New London-Willimantic MSA in SOC 35-2014.

The Norwich-New London-Willimantic pay distribution spans from $35,250 at the 10th percentile to $48,450 at the 90th, a 1.4× spread that reflects experience tenure, specialization, employer size, and the difference between public-sector, nonprofit, and private-sector compensation inside the metro. The 25th percentile sits at $36,430 and the 75th at $45,290, so half of Norwich-New London-Willimantic-based cooks, restaurants earn within that middle band.

Metro figures capture where you actually work, not just where you live, which matters for commuters. BLS draws metro boundaries from the OMB MSA definitions, so Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT covers the central city plus outlying counties tied to the metro economically. Remember that OEWS wages reflect base pay only: employer-provided health insurance, retirement matches, stock options, signing bonuses, overtime, and tips are excluded and can add 20-40% to real total compensation. Before using this metro median as a negotiation anchor, triangulate against the same occupation's national profile (linked below), its state-wide CT data, and peer-metro comparisons, a median is a starting point, not a ceiling.