Cooks, Short Order in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim

BLS metro-level wage data places Cooks, Short Order pay in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA at a median of $43,680 per year ($21.00/hr/hour), drawn from the OEWS May 2025 release for this Metropolitan Statistical Area. Compared to the national median of $35,880, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim pays +22% above, signaling either concentrated employer demand, a cost-of-living premium, or both. Approximately 12,410 cooks, short orders are employed across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA in SOC 35-2015.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim pay distribution spans from $38,030 at the 10th percentile to $45,020 at the 90th, a 1.2× 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 $40,060 and the 75th at $44,990, so half of Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim-based cooks, short orders 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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 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 CA data, and peer-metro comparisons, a median is a starting point, not a ceiling.