Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022

35-2011 Cooks, Fast Food

Prepare and cook food in a fast food restaurant with a limited menu. Duties of these cooks are limited to preparation of a few basic items and normally involve operating large-volume single-purpose cooking equipment.

National estimates for Cooks, Fast Food
Industry profile for Cooks, Fast Food
Geographic profile for Cooks, Fast Food

National estimates for Cooks, Fast Food:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Cooks, Fast Food:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
725,590	1.7 %	$ 13.43	$ 27,920	0.6 %

Percentile wage estimates for Cooks, Fast Food:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 9.94	$ 10.84	$ 13.29	$ 15.37	$ 17.21
Annual Wage (2)	$ 20,680	$ 22,550	$ 27,640	$ 31,970	$ 35,800

Industry profile for Cooks, Fast Food:

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

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Cooks, Fast Food:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	703,000	6.75	$ 13.39	$ 27,840
Gasoline Stations	6,310	0.67	$ 13.12	$ 27,280
Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only)	4,290	0.14	$ 14.48	$ 30,120
Special Food Services	4,070	0.64	$ 15.73	$ 32,710
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries	1,830	0.15	$ 14.76	$ 30,690

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Cooks, Fast Food:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	703,000	6.75	$ 13.39	$ 27,840
Gasoline Stations	6,310	0.67	$ 13.12	$ 27,280
Special Food Services	4,070	0.64	$ 15.73	$ 32,710
Amusement Parks and Arcades	360	0.18	$ 15.31	$ 31,840
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries	1,830	0.15	$ 14.76	$ 30,690

Top paying industries for Cooks, Fast Food:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Traveler Accommodation	570	0.03	$ 18.76	$ 39,020
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4244 and 4248 only)	290	0.03	$ 18.67	$ 38,830
Beverage Manufacturing	330	0.11	$ 18.41	$ 38,290
Management of Companies and Enterprises	(8)	(8)	$ 16.47	$ 34,250
Special Food Services	4,070	0.64	$ 15.73	$ 32,710

Geographic profile for Cooks, Fast Food:

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

Map of employment of cooks, fast food by state, May 2022

States with the highest employment level in Cooks, Fast Food:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	146,250	8.29	1.69	$ 16.61	$ 34,550
North Carolina	87,610	18.85	3.84	$ 11.29	$ 23,490
Kentucky	42,480	22.37	4.56	$ 10.99	$ 22,870
Florida	38,630	4.19	0.85	$ 12.75	$ 26,520
Tennessee	31,490	10.09	2.06	$ 11.78	$ 24,500

Map of location quotient of cooks, fast food by state, May 2022

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Cooks, Fast Food:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Kentucky	42,480	22.37	4.56	$ 10.99	$ 22,870
North Carolina	87,610	18.85	3.84	$ 11.29	$ 23,490
West Virginia	11,710	17.26	3.52	$ 10.49	$ 21,820
Missouri	30,510	10.82	2.21	$ 13.00	$ 27,030
Tennessee	31,490	10.09	2.06	$ 11.78	$ 24,500

Map of annual mean wages of cooks, fast food by state, May 2022

Top paying states for Cooks, Fast Food:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	1,600	2.31	0.47	$ 20.01	$ 41,620
Massachusetts	5,140	1.44	0.29	$ 17.54	$ 36,480
Washington	7,340	2.15	0.44	$ 17.01	$ 35,380
California	146,250	8.29	1.69	$ 16.61	$ 34,550
Hawaii	1,040	1.76	0.36	$ 16.50	$ 34,310

Map of employment of cooks, fast food by area, May 2022

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Cooks, Fast Food:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	54,580	8.95	1.82	$ 16.89	$ 35,130
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	21,220	2.31	0.47	$ 16.75	$ 34,850
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	17,840	10.93	2.23	$ 15.59	$ 32,420
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	17,590	13.85	2.82	$ 12.14	$ 25,250
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA	14,320	9.61	1.96	$ 16.61	$ 34,560
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	12,230	5.11	1.04	$ 18.05	$ 37,550
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	12,210	5.50	1.12	$ 15.11	$ 31,420
Raleigh, NC	11,570	17.22	3.51	$ 11.41	$ 23,730
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	11,540	2.61	0.53	$ 13.99	$ 29,090
St. Louis, MO-IL	10,510	8.03	1.64	$ 13.68	$ 28,450

Map of location quotient of cooks, fast food by area, May 2022

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Cooks, Fast Food:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Jacksonville, NC	1,920	38.52	7.85	$ 10.39	$ 21,620
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY	1,630	31.39	6.40	$ 10.64	$ 22,130
Fayetteville, NC	4,020	31.21	6.36	$ 10.75	$ 22,370
Greenville, NC	2,080	26.66	5.43	$ 10.92	$ 22,710
Goldsboro, NC	1,040	26.23	5.35	$ 10.53	$ 21,900
New Bern, NC	1,140	25.50	5.20	$ 10.82	$ 22,510
Bowling Green, KY	1,790	23.87	4.86	$ 10.66	$ 22,170
Burlington, NC	1,530	23.73	4.84	$ 11.50	$ 23,920
Rocky Mount, NC	1,280	23.71	4.83	$ 10.85	$ 22,560
Beckley, WV	950	23.40	4.77	$ 9.95	$ 20,700