Culinary School Information
- Find Culinary Schools
- Is Culinary School Right for You?
- How to Choose a Cooking School
- Culinary Arts Career Choices
- Chef Wages and Income
Chef Books
- Becoming A Chef
- So You Want to Be A Chef
- So You Are A Chef
- Catering
- Food Jobs
- Making of a Chef
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Success as a Chef
Chef Wages and Income
Culinary career salaries for chefs or head cooks vary widely, depending on a variety of factors. Your work environment is one of them. Fine dining restaurants usually pay some of the highest wages. Other high-paying employers include hotels, resorts and individuals who hire private chefs. Institutional cafeterias, casual or fast food restaurants, and cruise ships tend to be among the lowest paying employers.
Aside from your work environment, your education level, previous work experience and geographic location will also determine your earning potential.
Culinary Graduate Salaries
Your degree or diploma will certainly give you an advantage over non-culinary school graduates. Across all fields, bachelor's degree holders earn almost twice as much as those with only a high school diploma, according to the US Census Bureau.
Average Pay Ranges
The table below shows the average annual earnings of the middle 50% of restaurant and hospitality employees.*
| Job Title | Annual Earnings of Middle 50% |
| Cooking Assistant | $23,096 - 28,862 |
| Executive Chef | $55,976 - 85,328 |
| Executive Pastry Chef | $45,610 - 68,326 |
| Food Scientist | $48,289 - 73,410 |
| Hotel Manager | $64,926 - 119,094 |
| Line Cook | $19,280 - 25,229 |
| Restaurant Manager | $36,778 - 53,916 |
| Sous Chef | $31,977 - 49,745 |
* HR Data as reported by Salary.com in May, 2008.
Use the Salary Wizard at Salary.com to find out how much chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers currently earn in your city.
U.S. Labor Department Wage Information
Earnings of Chefs, Cooks and Food Preparation Workers: Earnings vary depending on where and in what type of establishment one works. Median annual wages of chefs and head cooks were $34,370 in May of 2006, while the median earnings of restaurant cooks was $20,340. Food preparation workers earned a median annual salary of $17,410.
The above wage data are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey program, unless otherwise noted. For the latest National, State, and local earnings data, visit the following pages:
- Chefs and head cooks
- Cooks, fast food
- Cooks, institution and cafeteria
- Cooks, private household
- Cooks, restaurant
- Cooks, short order
- Cooks, all other
- Food preparation workers
Select Schools by Name
- Branford Hall Career Institute - Culinary Arts Program - Branford, CT
- Branford Hall Career Institute - Culinary Arts Program - Springfield, MA
- California School of Culinary Arts - Pasadena, CA
- Connecticut Culinary Institute - Farmington, CT
- Culinard, the Culinary Institute of Virginia College - Birmingham, AL
- DeVry University - Fremont, CA
- DeVry University - Irvine, CA
- DeVry University - Long Beach, CA
- DeVry University - Pomona, CA
- DeVry University - Sacramento, CA
- DeVry University - San Diego, CA
- DeVry University - San Francisco, CA
- DeVry University - Sherman Oaks, CA
- Dorsey Schools - The Culinary Arts Program - Roseville, MI
- Florida Culinary Institute - West Palm Beach, FL
- Institute of Technology - American Culinary Federation Program - Roseville, CA
- Institute of Technology - American Culinary Federation Program - Modesto, CA
- Institute of Technology - American Culinary Federation Program - Clovis, CA
- Keiser Career College - Associate of Science in Culinary Arts - Melbourne, FL
- Keiser Career College - Associate of Science in Culinary Arts - Sarasota, FL
- Keiser Career College - Associate of Science in Culinary Arts - Tallahassee, FL
- Kendall College - The School of Culinary Arts - Chicago, IL
- Keystone Technical Institute - Culinary Arts - Harrisburg, PA
- L'Academie de Cuisine - Gaithersburg, MD
- Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
- Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts - Atlanta, GA
- Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts - Las Vegas, NV
- Lincoln College of Technology - Florida Culinary Institute - West Palm Beach, FL
- Lincoln Technical Institute - Center for Culinary Arts - Shelton CT Columbia MD
- Lincoln Technical Institute - Center for Culinary Arts - Cromwell CT
- Lincoln Technical Institute - Center for Culinary Arts - Columbia MD
- Orlando Culinary Academy - Orlando, FL
- Oregon Culinary Institute - Portland, OR
- Penn Foster - Associate Degree in Travel, Tourism &Hospitality - Scranton, PA
- Pioneer Pacific College - Oregon Culinary Institute - Portland, OR
- Quad Schools - Career / Culinary Academy of Long Island, NY
- Remington College - Dallas Culinary Arts Program - Dallas, TX
- Salter College Culinary School - Worcester, MA
- STAR Career Academy - Syosset, NY
- STAR Career Academy - Manhattan, NY
- Texas Culinary Academy - Austin, TX
- YTI Career Institute Culinary Arts &Chef Training - York &Lancaster, PA
Find Culinary Schools By State
Culinary School Information
- Find Culinary Schools
- Is Culinary School Right for You?
- How to Choose a Cooking School
- Culinary Arts Career Choices
- Chef Wages and Income
Chef Books
- Becoming A Chef
- So You Want to Be A Chef
- So You Are A Chef
- Catering
- Food Jobs
- Making of a Chef
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Success as a Chef
Modified April 2011
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