Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021

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)
768,130	2.2 %	$ 12.25	$ 25,490	0.6 %

Percentile wage estimates for Cooks, Fast Food:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 8.68	$ 10.39	$ 11.63	$ 14.19	$ 15.11
Annual Wage (2)	$ 18,050	$ 21,610	$ 24,180	$ 29,510	$ 31,420

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	744,680	7.90	$ 12.22	$ 25,420
Gasoline Stations	8,560	0.92	$ 12.28	$ 25,550
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	5,850	0.20	$ 13.36	$ 27,780
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries	1,760	0.16	$ 13.67	$ 28,430
Special Food Services	1,590	0.33	$ 14.89	$ 30,960

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	744,680	7.90	$ 12.22	$ 25,420
Gasoline Stations	8,560	0.92	$ 12.28	$ 25,550
Special Food Services	1,590	0.33	$ 14.89	$ 30,960
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	5,850	0.20	$ 13.36	$ 27,780
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	540	0.17	$ 13.59	$ 28,280

Top paying industries for Cooks, Fast Food:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Beverage Manufacturing	(8)	(8)	$ 16.25	$ 33,800
Elementary and Secondary Schools	240	(7)	$ 16.24	$ 33,780
Management of Companies and Enterprises	(8)	(8)	$ 15.12	$ 31,450
Traveler Accommodation	590	0.04	$ 15.10	$ 31,410
Motion Picture and Video Industries	70	0.02	$ 15.03	$ 31,260

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 2021

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	123,640	7.48	1.37	$ 15.35	$ 31,930
North Carolina	78,870	17.84	3.27	$ 10.26	$ 21,340
Florida	41,040	4.77	0.87	$ 11.48	$ 23,870
Missouri	39,910	14.63	2.68	$ 11.90	$ 24,750
Kentucky	38,740	21.07	3.87	$ 10.00	$ 20,790

Map of location quotient of cooks, fast food by state, May 2021

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	38,740	21.07	3.87	$ 10.00	$ 20,790
North Carolina	78,870	17.84	3.27	$ 10.26	$ 21,340
Missouri	39,910	14.63	2.68	$ 11.90	$ 24,750
West Virginia	9,290	14.12	2.59	$ 10.18	$ 21,170
Oklahoma	20,480	13.15	2.41	$ 10.90	$ 22,670

Map of annual mean wages of cooks, fast food by state, May 2021

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	1,990	3.01	0.55	$ 18.71	$ 38,920
Hawaii	720	1.31	0.24	$ 17.79	$ 37,010
Washington	9,750	3.04	0.56	$ 16.08	$ 33,450
New York	10,030	1.16	0.21	$ 15.71	$ 32,680
Massachusetts	4,640	1.37	0.25	$ 15.69	$ 32,620

Map of employment of cooks, fast food by area, May 2021

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	41,060	7.18	1.32	$ 15.43	$ 32,090
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	24,020	11.35	2.08	$ 13.62	$ 28,330
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	17,960	11.74	2.15	$ 14.70	$ 30,570
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	16,770	13.86	2.54	$ 10.95	$ 22,780
St. Louis, MO-IL	15,220	11.92	2.19	$ 12.41	$ 25,810
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	14,550	3.44	0.63	$ 12.78	$ 26,590
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	14,000	1.61	0.30	$ 16.20	$ 33,700
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA	11,650	8.38	1.54	$ 15.39	$ 32,020
Raleigh, NC	11,020	17.40	3.19	$ 10.58	$ 22,010
Kansas City, MO-KS	10,490	10.32	1.89	$ 12.33	$ 25,640

Map of location quotient of cooks, fast food by area, May 2021

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	1,750	36.41	6.68	$ 9.55	$ 19,860
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY	1,460	28.25	5.18	$ 9.58	$ 19,930
Fayetteville, NC	3,310	26.49	4.86	$ 9.82	$ 20,430
Burlington, NC	1,620	26.27	4.82	$ 10.20	$ 21,220
Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ	1,300	24.76	4.54	$ 13.15	$ 27,340
Goldsboro, NC	970	24.70	4.53	$ 9.68	$ 20,140
Bowling Green, KY	1,770	24.53	4.50	$ 9.50	$ 19,760
New Bern, NC	1,020	23.71	4.35	$ 9.72	$ 20,220
Rocky Mount, NC	1,250	23.48	4.31	$ 9.62	$ 20,020
Greenville, NC	1,690	22.42	4.11	$ 9.99	$ 20,770