Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019

35-1011 Chefs and Head Cooks

Direct and may participate in the preparation, seasoning, and cooking of salads, soups, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, or other foods. May plan and price menu items, order supplies, and keep records and accounts.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
Geographic profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
128,190	2.7 %	$27.07	$56,310	1.6 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$13.64	$17.97	$24.78	$32.93	$41.82
Annual Wage (2)	$28,370	$37,380	$51,530	$68,500	$86,990

Industry profile for this occupation:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	66,790	0.62	$25.75	$53,570
Special Food Services	15,520	2.11	$28.87	$60,050
Traveler Accommodation	15,070	0.73	$30.28	$62,980
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries	6,610	0.49	$30.48	$63,390
Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly	2,930	0.31	$24.93	$51,850

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Special Food Services	15,520	2.11	$28.87	$60,050
Rooming and Boarding Houses	100	0.89	$22.18	$46,120
Traveler Accommodation	15,070	0.73	$30.28	$62,980
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	66,790	0.62	$25.75	$53,570
Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water	80	0.50	$32.82	$68,270

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Office Administrative Services	(8)	(8)	$35.06	$72,930
Federal Executive Branch (OES Designation)	1,460	0.07	$34.20	$71,130
Insurance Carriers	60	(7)	$33.64	$69,970
Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water	80	0.50	$32.82	$68,270
Motion Picture and Video Industries	200	0.05	$32.37	$67,320

Geographic profile for this occupation:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	21,370	1.23	1.41	$29.35	$61,040
New York	17,950	1.89	2.16	$28.55	$59,380
Florida	12,040	1.37	1.57	$25.49	$53,030
Texas	5,350	0.43	0.49	$27.34	$56,880
Massachusetts	4,280	1.18	1.36	$30.38	$63,190

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Vermont	950	3.11	3.57	$22.14	$46,040
Nevada	3,350	2.41	2.76	$27.33	$56,850
New York	17,950	1.89	2.16	$28.55	$59,380
District of Columbia	1,220	1.68	1.93	$31.67	$65,870
Hawaii	940	1.48	1.69	$37.81	$78,640

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Hawaii	940	1.48	1.69	$37.81	$78,640
New Jersey	2,960	0.72	0.83	$36.57	$76,060
Rhode Island	300	0.63	0.72	$34.25	$71,230
District of Columbia	1,220	1.68	1.93	$31.67	$65,870
Massachusetts	4,280	1.18	1.36	$30.38	$63,190

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in this occupation:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	17,040	1.77	2.02	$30.37	$63,180
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	8,350	1.34	1.53	$25.13	$52,280
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	4,620	1.87	2.14	$30.64	$63,740
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	3,400	0.73	0.83	$27.69	$57,600
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	3,240	1.16	1.33	$30.93	$64,340
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	3,130	0.98	1.13	$29.93	$62,260
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	3,090	1.17	1.34	$27.41	$57,020
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV	2,840	2.79	3.19	$27.69	$57,600
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	2,570	1.99	2.28	$24.49	$50,940
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	1,770	0.61	0.70	$30.74	$63,950