How much do chefs make?

Chef salary 2026 · BLS occupation: Chefs and Head Cooks (SOC 35-1011) · Updated October 28, 2026

Answer

Chefs in the US earned a median of $62,470 a year ($30.03 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned $48,440 to $78,750.

Median annual pay: $62,470; Mean $66,700
Median hourly pay: $30.03; Mean $32.07
Typical range (10th–90th): $37.9K–$98.6K; $37,900 to $98,560
US jobs: 200,040; +6.6% projected, 2025–35

BLS OEWS, May 2025, released April 30, 2026. Wages include tips, commissions and production bonuses but not overtime premiums, shift differentials, other bonuses or benefits; self-employed workers are not included. Methodology

How to become a chef: steps, years and cost · Best-paying state after cost of living: North Dakota

Chef pay range

Annual wages, May 2025

10th percentile$37,900
25th percentile$48,440
Median$62,470
75th percentile$78,750
90th percentile$98,560

Half of all chefs earned more than $62,470 and half earned less. The lowest-paid 10% made under $37,900; the top 10% made over $98,560. The middle 50%, from the 25th to the 75th percentile, ran from $48,440 to $78,750.

These percentiles describe everyone in the occupation at one time. They are not pay steps by years of experience: they mix new and senior workers, different states, employers and hours. Pay generally rises with experience, credentials and specialization, but BLS does not publish pay by experience.

Percentile	Annual	Hourly	Monthly
10th	$37,900	$18.22	$3,158
25th	$48,440	$23.29	$4,037
Median (50th)	$62,470	$30.03	$5,206
75th	$78,750	$37.86	$6,563
90th	$98,560	$47.39	$8,213
Mean (average)	$66,700	$32.07	$5,558

Chef salary by state

Median annual pay; cost of living from BEA regional price parities 2024

Median annual pay for chefs by state. Darker tiles pay more.

Highest-paying states

1. Rhode Island $79,930
2. Hawaii $77,360
3. District of Columbia $76,420
4. Washington $76,010
5. North Dakota $74,740

Lowest-paying states

51. Louisiana $45,570
50. Arkansas $46,170
49. Iowa $47,990
48. Kentucky $48,070
47. South Dakota $48,470

Best after cost of living: North Dakota. Its median of $74,740 is worth about $84,016 at national-average prices, more than in Rhode Island once prices are counted.


Alabama	$62,400	23	$70,252	9	$30.00	1,000	0.47
Alaska	$52,190	44	$50,987	51	$25.09	680	2.08
Arizona	$59,890	33	$59,487	36	$28.79	4,080	1.26
Arkansas	$46,170	50	$53,107	49	$22.20	880	0.68
California	$64,500	15	$58,255	40	$31.01	31,670	1.74
Colorado	$65,400	14	$63,463	25	$31.44	3,970	1.38
Connecticut	$64,310	17	$62,069	30	$30.92	3,080	1.82
Delaware	$61,440	27	$61,558	31	$29.54	590	1.22
District of Columbia	$76,420	3	$69,535	10	$36.74	2,020	2.88
Florida	$58,240	38	$56,317	43	$28.00	19,670	1.98
Georgia	$66,230	12	$68,780	11	$31.84	3,680	0.75
Hawaii	$77,360	2	$70,359	8	$37.19	1,240	1.97
Idaho	$52,000	46	$54,454	47	$25.00	550	0.64
Illinois	$58,830	35	$58,855	37	$28.29	8,290	1.36
Indiana	$52,190	45	$55,920	44	$25.09	1,940	0.61
Iowa	$47,990	49	$54,682	46	$23.07	1,640	1.05
Kansas	$58,390	37	$64,829	22	$28.07	860	0.60
Kentucky	$48,070	48	$53,317	48	$23.11	1,790	0.90
Louisiana	$45,570	51	$51,663	50	$21.91	1,990	1.03
Maine	$57,010	40	$58,743	38	$27.41	1,250	1.95
Maryland	$61,590	26	$58,680	39	$29.61	3,220	1.17
Massachusetts	$69,540	11	$65,755	18	$33.43	6,000	1.65
Michigan	$60,070	32	$62,432	28	$28.88	5,360	1.22
Minnesota	$62,600	22	$63,475	24	$30.10	1,730	0.58
Mississippi	$54,850	42	$63,080	26	$26.37	840	0.72
Missouri	$64,480	16	$71,000	7	$31.00	1,750	0.59
Montana	$57,470	39	$60,722	34	$27.63	720	1.41
Nebraska	$60,510	31	$67,156	15	$29.09	540	0.53
Nevada	$62,380	24	$62,393	29	$29.99	3,940	2.54
New Hampshire	$63,400	20	$60,865	33	$30.48	1,170	1.71
New Jersey	$74,280	6	$68,269	13	$35.71	9,100	2.12
New Mexico	$62,250	25	$67,507	14	$29.93	770	0.89
New York	$70,670	9	$65,483	19	$33.98	17,430	1.80
North Carolina	$61,130	29	$64,807	23	$29.39	4,920	0.99
North Dakota	$74,740	5	$84,016	1	$35.93	100	0.24
Ohio	$53,990	43	$58,195	41	$25.96	4,000	0.72
Oklahoma	$58,540	36	$66,642	17	$28.14	1,430	0.84
Oregon	$63,600	19	$61,532	32	$30.58	2,510	1.27
Pennsylvania	$63,860	18	$65,449	20	$30.70	9,170	1.51
Rhode Island	$79,930	1	$78,148	3	$38.43	740	1.48
South Carolina	$71,860	8	$76,651	4	$34.55	2,650	1.15
South Dakota	$48,470	47	$54,715	45	$23.30	300	0.65
Tennessee	$69,810	10	$75,988	5	$33.56	3,820	1.17
Texas	$56,080	41	$57,780	42	$26.96	13,270	0.94
Utah	$59,060	34	$59,739	35	$28.39	1,740	1.00
Vermont	$65,440	13	$66,804	16	$31.46	610	2.00
Virginia	$63,270	21	$62,579	27	$30.42	3,600	0.88
Washington	$76,010	4	$71,029	6	$36.54	5,320	1.50
West Virginia	$61,100	30	$68,270	12	$29.38	350	0.49
Wisconsin	$61,300	28	$65,147	21	$29.47	1,860	0.63
Wyoming	$73,170	7	$78,940	2	$35.18	240	0.86

BLS OEWS, May 2025, state estimates. Adjusted pay = median ÷ (state price level ÷ 100), using BEA regional price parities for 2024; it ignores taxes. Figures for states with few workers in the occupation have larger survey errors and can change sharply from one year to the next. “—” means BLS did not publish the figure. State names link to each state’s highest-paying jobs.

Best-paying metro areas for chefs

336 metro areas with published pay

Highest median pay
Metro area	Median	Adjusted	Jobs
Terre Haute, IN	$85,920	$97,862	50
Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$84,990	$77,692	250
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$84,430	$84,798	470
Morgantown, WV	$81,330	$87,149	70
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$80,330	$72,283	3,740
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$79,340	$77,958	1,070
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$79,020	$71,561	1,280
Napa, CA	$78,960	$70,153	300
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$75,740	$76,616	900
Vineland, NJ	$75,050	$78,203	100

Most jobs
Metro area	Jobs	Median	Adjusted
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	20,010	$71,780	$63,769
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	11,430	$69,990	$61,629
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	8,210	$57,940	$50,756
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	6,840	$60,770	$58,661
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	5,700	$65,680	$64,044
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	5,340	$68,970	$59,656
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	4,680	$74,900	$68,789
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	4,430	$72,470	$66,937
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	3,890	$60,600	$54,162
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	3,740	$80,330	$72,283

BLS OEWS, May 2025, metropolitan statistical areas; adjusted with BEA metro price parities (2024).

What moves chef pay: employers and settings

The type of operation matters a lot. Restaurants employ most chefs, and their median is $59,060. Hotels and resorts pay more at $73,940. Other amusement and recreation businesses, such as country clubs and casinos, pay $74,000. Special food services such as caterers and contract food services pay $70,840. The small group of federal government chefs has a median of $89,280.

Location counts too. Rhode Island has the highest state median at $79,930, followed by Hawaii at $77,360, the District of Columbia at $76,420, Washington at $76,010, and North Dakota at $74,740. Louisiana is lowest at $45,570. After adjusting for living costs, North Dakota comes out on top at $84,016 adjusted.

Title and scope also move pay. An executive chef over several outlets, banquets or a hotel's whole food operation earns more than a head cook in a small restaurant. The 25th percentile is $48,440, and the 75th percentile is $78,750, a spread that reflects job scope and employer rather than a set raise for each year worked. ACF certification, volume of covers, and bonuses tied to food and labor cost targets can also matter. Chefs who own their restaurant are mostly self-employed and not counted in these figures.

Where chefs work
Industry	Share of jobs	Median pay
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	58.7%	$59,060
Special Food Services	11%	$70,840
Traveler Accommodation	9.5%	$73,940
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries	5.1%	$74,000
Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly	2.6%	$59,210
Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only)	1.2%	$53,590

Private employers and government
Employer type	Jobs	Median pay
Private employers	194,540	$62,260
Federal government (incl. Postal Service)	1,440	$89,280
State government (incl. schools and hospitals)	1,080	$63,010
Local government (incl. schools and hospitals)	2,980	$63,860

BLS OEWS, May 2025, national industry-specific and ownership estimates (4-digit NAICS).

Chef pay over time

Median annual pay, 2015–2025

$62.5K $41.5K

2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025

Nominal median (dollars of each year)In May 2025 dollars (adjusted with CPI-U)

The median rose from $41,500 in 2015 to $62,470 in 2025, up 51% in nominal dollars. After inflation, the 2015 median is worth $56,100 in May 2025 dollars, so real pay grew 11% over the period.

BLS OEWS, May 2025 and earlier May releases; inflation from the CPI-U, US city average, May of each year.

What chefs do

A chef runs a kitchen. Head chefs and executive chefs plan menus, set recipes and portion sizes, order food, cost out dishes and hire, train and schedule the cooks. During service they work the pass, checking every plate before it goes out and calling orders to the line. A sous chef is second in command, running shifts and stepping in for the head chef. In smaller places the head cook does all of this while cooking on the line.

Most chefs work in restaurants, but many work in hotels and resorts, caterers and contract food services that feed hospitals, campuses and offices, country clubs and casinos, and senior living communities. The kitchen is hot, loud and crowded, and the work means standing for long shifts, often with early mornings, late nights, weekends and holidays. Chefs who own a restaurant or catering business also handle the books, payroll and permits.

A typical day

Plan menus and specials around seasons, supplier prices and food cost targets
Order produce, meat and dry goods and check deliveries for quality and accuracy
Write recipes and plating guides so every cook makes a dish the same way
Hire, train and schedule cooks and run the line during busy services
Taste and inspect plates at the pass before they go to guests
Enforce food safety rules on temperatures, storage, labeling and cleaning
Track inventory, waste and labor costs and adjust portions or prices

Also called: head chef, executive chef, chefs, sous chef, banquet chef, cook, executive chef (ex chef), executive pastry chef.

How to become a chef

Full guide

Most chefs get there through kitchen experience: start as a prep or line cook, often after a culinary certificate or associate degree, and work up to sous chef and head chef over about 5 years or more. No license is required, but many state and local food codes require the person in charge of a kitchen to be a certified food protection manager.

Typical time: 5 to 10 years; Fastest: About 4-5 years
Minimum education: High school diploma or equivalent plus several years of kitchen experience; a culinary certificate or degree is optional
License: Not licensed (state or local food safety certification may be required; ACF certification optional)
Typical training cost: $4.4K–$9.5K; See the guide for what it includes

Read the step-by-step guide to becoming a chef: each step with its time and cost, education options, exams, licensing and advancement.

Is it worth it? Training cost against pay

Compare careers

Training time: 5 to 10 years; Typical path in our guide
Training cost: $4.4K–$9.5K; Tuition and exam fees, before aid
Median pay: $62,470; $11,490 above the all-jobs median ($50,980)
Cost vs. one year's pay: 7–15%; Training cost as a share of a year at the median

Once qualified, the pay difference over the typical US job at the median ($11,490 a year before tax) would repay the training cost in less than a year after training ends (5 to 10 years in our guide). This is a rough guide: it ignores taxes, financial aid, interest, earnings given up while training and how pay changes over a career. How we calculate ROI.

Job outlook for chefs

BLS Employment Projections 2025–35

Projected growth: +6.6%; All occupations +3.5%
Jobs in 2025: 220,300; 234,700 projected for 2035
Openings each year: 25,200; New jobs plus replacements
Self-employed: 6.8%; Not in the pay figures above

BLS projects chef and head cook jobs to grow 6.6% from 2025 to 2035, from 220,300 to 234,700, faster than the 3.5% for all occupations. That works out to about 25,200 openings a year, most of them from chefs moving to other jobs or retiring. Demand comes from people eating out more as incomes rise, and from grocery stores, cafeterias and other places that sell prepared meals and hire experienced chefs to keep the food consistent.

Related careers and their pay

Bakers$37,160
Cooks, Restaurant$37,390
Cooks, Private Household$47,940
Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$37,450
Food Service Managers$69,390

Related occupations from O*NET 31.0; median annual pay from BLS OEWS, May 2025.

Chef salary FAQ

How much do chefs make an hour?

The median hourly wage for chefs was $30.03 in May 2025. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $18.22 an hour and the highest-paid 10% more than $47.39. Hourly figures are BLS estimates for all workers in the occupation, full-time and part-time.

Which state pays chefs the most?

Rhode Island has the highest median pay for chefs, $79,930 a year, followed by Hawaii ($77,360) and District of Columbia ($76,420). After adjusting for each state's price level, North Dakota comes out ahead at about $84,016 in national-average dollars.

Do chefs make six figures?

Few do: based on the BLS percentiles, fewer than 10% of chefs earn more than $100,000 a year. The median is $62,470, and the top 10% earn more than $98,560. Pay generally rises with experience, specialization and location.

What is the difference between a chef and a cook?

A cook prepares food at a station, following recipes and the chef's directions. A chef is in charge: planning menus, setting recipes, ordering, managing costs and supervising the cooks. Most chefs start as line cooks and work their way up over several years. BLS counts cooks as a separate occupation, so their pay is not part of the figures on this page.

What is the difference between an executive chef and a head chef?

In a single restaurant the terms are often used for the same job. In larger operations, the executive chef oversees several kitchens or a hotel's full food program and spends more time on menus, budgets and staff, while a head chef or chef de cuisine runs one kitchen day to day. The sous chef is the second in command under either.

What hours do chefs work?

Long and irregular ones. Most chefs work full time, and many work more than 40 hours a week. Shifts cover early prep, lunch and dinner service, and closing, so a chef may start mid-morning and leave after midnight. Weekends and holidays are usually the busiest days. Chefs in hospitals, schools, corporate dining and senior living often have steadier daytime schedules.

Sources

Data updated October 28, 2026 · Text checked against its sources October 28, 2026

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates, released April 30, 2026, SOC 35-1011
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035, released September 2026
O*NET 31.0 Database (35-1011.00), U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0; tasks rewritten by Careers and Salaries
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by state and metro area, 2024
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), US city average, May values
U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard field-of-study and institution data, most recent cohorts, released 2026-10-15
Chefs and Head Cooks, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · checked October 28, 2026
Certified Sous Chef (CSC), American Culinary Federation · checked October 28, 2026
ACFEF Apprenticeship, American Culinary Federation Education Foundation · checked October 28, 2026
Certified Executive Chef (CEC), American Culinary Federation · checked October 28, 2026
FDA Food Code 2022, U.S. Food and Drug Administration · checked October 28, 2026
ServSafe Manager, National Restaurant Association · checked October 28, 2026
License Finder, CareerOneStop, U.S. Department of Labor · checked October 28, 2026
ACF Online Learning Center, American Culinary Federation · checked October 28, 2026

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