• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023

35-2021 Food Preparation Workers

Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.

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National estimates for Food Preparation Workers
Industry profile for Food Preparation Workers
Geographic profile for Food Preparation Workers

National estimates for Food Preparation Workers:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Food Preparation Workers:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
879,610	1.2 %	$ 15.85	$ 32,960	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Food Preparation Workers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 11.04	$ 13.42	$ 15.59	$ 17.68	$ 20.67
Annual Wage (2)	$ 22,970	$ 27,920	$ 32,420	$ 36,780	$ 42,990

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Industry profile for Food Preparation Workers:

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

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Food Preparation Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	436,500	4.02	$ 15.26	$ 31,730
Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only)	185,270	6.10	$ 16.13	$ 33,540
Special Food Services	51,220	7.11	$ 16.27	$ 33,850
General Merchandise Retailers	30,930	0.96	$ 19.18	$ 39,900
Elementary and Secondary Schools	26,510	0.31	$ 16.80	$ 34,940

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Food Preparation Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Special Food Services	51,220	7.11	$ 16.27	$ 33,850
Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only)	185,270	6.10	$ 16.13	$ 33,540
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	436,500	4.02	$ 15.26	$ 31,730
Rooming and Boarding Houses, Dormitories, and Workers' Camps	190	1.88	$ 16.20	$ 33,700
Gasoline Stations	17,860	1.85	$ 14.07	$ 29,260

Top paying industries for Food Preparation Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Motion Picture and Video Industries	260	0.06	$ 22.66	$ 47,130
Office Administrative Services	60	0.01	$ 22.42	$ 46,640
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services	40	(7)	$ 22.38	$ 46,560
Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations	230	0.05	$ 21.32	$ 44,350
Animal Slaughtering and Processing	370	0.07	$ 20.41	$ 42,460

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Geographic profile for Food Preparation Workers:

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

States with the highest employment level in Food Preparation Workers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	107,870	6.01	1.04	$ 18.83	$ 39,170
Texas	92,020	6.79	1.17	$ 14.34	$ 29,820
Florida	70,830	7.40	1.28	$ 15.75	$ 32,760
New York	51,920	5.53	0.95	$ 18.41	$ 38,300
Illinois	39,660	6.60	1.14	$ 16.35	$ 34,010

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Food Preparation Workers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Louisiana	29,250	15.80	2.73	$ 11.36	$ 23,620
Maine	6,690	10.76	1.86	$ 16.66	$ 34,640
Alaska	2,840	9.12	1.57	$ 17.56	$ 36,530
Alabama	16,310	7.94	1.37	$ 12.41	$ 25,810
South Carolina	16,930	7.61	1.31	$ 13.83	$ 28,760

Top paying states for Food Preparation Workers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Washington	17,450	4.99	0.86	$ 20.19	$ 41,990
District of Columbia	3,960	5.65	0.98	$ 19.01	$ 39,540
California	107,870	6.01	1.04	$ 18.83	$ 39,170
Massachusetts	15,230	4.18	0.72	$ 18.76	$ 39,010
Colorado	13,050	4.61	0.80	$ 18.62	$ 38,730

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Food Preparation Workers:

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	58,560	6.17	1.06	$ 18.61	$ 38,700
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	39,530	6.39	1.10	$ 18.71	$ 38,920
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	32,000	7.10	1.23	$ 16.77	$ 34,890
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	26,220	8.25	1.42	$ 13.94	$ 28,980
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	25,970	6.55	1.13	$ 15.13	$ 31,470
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	19,810	7.28	1.26	$ 16.01	$ 33,300
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	18,440	6.54	1.13	$ 15.09	$ 31,390
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	15,530	5.02	0.87	$ 17.09	$ 35,550
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	14,960	6.18	1.07	$ 19.70	$ 40,970
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	12,200	6.39	1.10	$ 16.97	$ 35,310

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Food Preparation Workers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Hammond, LA	900	19.23	3.32	$ 10.93	$ 22,730
Lafayette, LA	3,410	17.75	3.06	$ 11.32	$ 23,550
Monroe, LA	1,280	17.06	2.95	$ 10.77	$ 22,400
Lake Charles, LA	1,520	16.73	2.89	$ 11.71	$ 24,360
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA	2,790	16.37	2.83	$ 11.14	$ 23,180
New Orleans-Metairie, LA	8,270	16.07	2.77	$ 11.87	$ 24,680
Alexandria, LA	860	14.54	2.51	$ 10.75	$ 22,360
Houma-Thibodaux, LA	1,150	14.28	2.47	$ 11.24	$ 23,380
Baton Rouge, LA	5,520	14.23	2.46	$ 11.40	$ 23,700
Lewiston-Auburn, ME	630	13.24	2.29	$ 16.32	$ 33,940