These Are The 10 Best Cities For Executive Chefs

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Whether you’re just starting out your career, or looking to make a move, it can be important to know what part of the country offers the best chance for your long term career prospects. And for a very common profession like Executive Chefs, the regional differences can have a big impact on your salary and career options.

To help you make the best decision possible, we at Zippia wanted to look at the cities that offer executive chefs the most for their career. These are the cities across the US where executive chefs get paid well, relative to the cost of living, and jobs are plentiful.

So we did what we do best and dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which cities have the best opportunities for executive chefs.The result is this list of the best cities executive chefs:

So there you have it — Naples is the best city when it comes to being a executive chef.

And where should you consider avoiding if you’re a executive chef? That would be Springfield.

Read on to see how we completed our research on the best cities for executive chefs and for more on the top ten cities.

How we determined the best cities to be a executive chefs?

Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:

Availability of jobs
Pay

So in order to find out the best cities for executive chefs in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well executive chefs get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given city.
Average annual salary.
Average annual salary for entry level work.

To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across cities, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.

This left us with enough data for 278 metro areas across the country. We then took the primary area of the metro and labeled that the ‘city’ for this analysis. So, for example, “Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division” became simply Boston.

In order to develop an overall ranking, we ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 278 where 1 was the best.

We then averaged all the rankings for a city into a Job Score with the city having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best city for executive chefs in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each city so great for executive chefs.

1. Naples, FL

Total Jobs: 360
Average Annual Salary: $57,970
Average Entry Level Salary: $35,810
Location Quotient: 2.94

2. The Villages, FL

Total Jobs: 80
Average Annual Salary: $58,070
Average Entry Level Salary: $35,390
Location Quotient: 3.52

3. Santa Fe, NM

Total Jobs: 110
Average Annual Salary: $59,760
Average Entry Level Salary: $32,900
Location Quotient: 1.91

4. Cape Coral, FL

Total Jobs: 370
Average Annual Salary: $59,700
Average Entry Level Salary: $38,700
Location Quotient: 1.68

5. Lynn, MA

Total Jobs: 110
Average Annual Salary: $62,980
Average Entry Level Salary: $40,720
Location Quotient: 2.65

6. Hilton Head Island, SC

Total Jobs: 140
Average Annual Salary: $48,150
Average Entry Level Salary: $31,750
Location Quotient: 2.09

7. Atlantic City, NJ

Total Jobs: 390
Average Annual Salary: $57,110
Average Entry Level Salary: $34,760
Location Quotient: 3.31

8. West Palm Beach, FL

Total Jobs: 680
Average Annual Salary: $63,550
Average Entry Level Salary: $35,710
Location Quotient: 1.29

9. Las Vegas, NV

Total Jobs: 2,800
Average Annual Salary: $52,330
Average Entry Level Salary: $33,100
Location Quotient: 3.29

10. Newark, NJ

Total Jobs: 1,360
Average Annual Salary: $59,540
Average Entry Level Salary: $39,290
Location Quotient: 1.25

And that’s our list of the best cities for executive chefs

If you’re looking to start out your career as a executive chef these are the cities that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.

If you’re curious, here are the worst cities to be a executive chef in America:

Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Executive Chefs

Rank	State	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	Naples, FL	$57,970	$35,810	360
2	The Villages, FL	$58,070	$35,390	80
3	Santa Fe, NM	$59,760	$32,900	110
4	Cape Coral, FL	$59,700	$38,700	370
5	Lynn, MA	$62,980	$40,720	110
6	Hilton Head Island, SC	$48,150	$31,750	140
7	Atlantic City, NJ	$57,110	$34,760	390
8	West Palm Beach, FL	$63,550	$35,710	680
9	Las Vegas, NV	$52,330	$33,100	2,800
10	Newark, NJ	$59,540	$39,290	1,360
11	Crestview, FL	$50,170	$31,980	190
12	Morgantown, WV	$58,960	$34,650	50
13	Providence, RI	$53,910	$32,750	670
14	Carson City, NV	$50,390	$33,280	30
15	Ames, IA	$48,680	$40,420	40
16	Barnstable Town, MA	$55,670	$36,280	150
17	Portsmouth, NH	$49,190	$34,520	160
18	Sebastian, FL	$63,510	$26,570	80
19	Gulfport, MS	$41,930	$28,440	230
20	Salinas, CA	$61,830	$29,940	240
21	Ocean City, NJ	$50,090	$32,680	90
22	Pittsfield, MA	$55,470	$33,640	70
23	Philadelphia, PA	$56,080	$34,310	630
24	Toledo, OH	$47,860	$32,430	220
25	Miami, FL	$54,920	$28,750	1,290
26	Napa, CA	$52,320	$31,820	180
27	East Stroudsburg, PA	$48,230	$33,480	50
28	Haverhill, MA	$53,880	$36,350	90
29	Hot Springs, AR	$45,280	$23,850	50
30	Flagstaff, AZ	$51,720	$26,650	90
31	Daphne, AL	$46,210	$35,030	50
32	Niles, MI	$55,490	$31,170	50
33	Seattle, WA	$56,130	$31,360	1,240
34	Lexington, KY	$51,390	$34,360	150
35	Ann Arbor, MI	$59,440	$32,740	130
36	Montgomery, AL	$54,990	$32,920	90
37	Jackson, MS	$49,090	$31,290	170
38	Orlando, FL	$55,330	$26,660	1,350
39	Silver Spring, MD	$53,610	$34,510	660
40	Boston, MA	$56,940	$31,290	2,600
41	Cincinnati, OH	$48,520	$30,980	660
42	Cleveland, OH	$44,640	$30,560	800
43	Flint, MI	$53,170	$25,560	140
44	Colorado Springs, CO	$52,520	$35,040	210
45	Lincoln, NE	$50,870	$31,950	110
46	San Jose, CA	$56,770	$32,520	940
47	Beaumont, TX	$63,000	$35,120	60
48	Peabody, MA	$60,200	$29,360	120
49	Bismarck, ND	$43,480	$27,230	70
50	Birmingham, AL	$57,170	$40,680	170
51	Lansing, MI	$50,730	$24,050	230
52	Charlottesville, VA	$47,210	$32,850	110
53	Columbus, OH	$44,140	$30,610	640
54	Wilmington, DE	$48,810	$34,920	260
55	Huntington, WV	$50,920	$31,500	40
56	Norwich, CT	$52,180	$34,040	140
57	Bellingham, WA	$52,730	$28,310	60
58	Alexandria, LA	$60,950	$26,370	40
59	San Francisco, CA	$49,290	$29,220	2,310
60	Raleigh, NC	$47,730	$33,600	320
61	Columbia, MO	$42,820	$25,870	80
62	Hartford, CT	$49,060	$35,330	680
63	San Rafael, CA	$47,730	$29,370	290
64	Pittsburgh, PA	$42,730	$31,380	1,070
65	Montgomery County, PA	$51,860	$28,810	630
66	Lawrence, KS	$39,530	$26,020	80
67	Palm Bay, FL	$48,080	$30,080	170
68	Mount Vernon, WA	$44,220	$28,650	50
69	Owensboro, KY	$35,370	$25,870	60
70	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY	$42,000	$29,660	260
71	Houma, LA	$40,960	$30,160	90
72	Allentown, PA	$52,160	$25,850	270
73	Charlotte, NC	$50,130	$28,460	700
74	York, PA	$45,960	$34,170	100
75	Minneapolis, MN	$47,130	$28,620	1,830
76	Trenton, NJ	$48,440	$31,340	240
77	Sioux City, IA	$48,540	$28,450	50
78	Jacksonville, FL	$50,360	$31,380	390
79	Dallas, TX	$50,900	$25,870	1,520
80	Tyler, TX	$47,980	$32,170	40
81	Greenville, SC	$41,940	$25,010	390
82	Lakeland, FL	$50,430	$33,850	110
83	Bloomington, IN	$37,820	$30,960	60
84	Kahului, HI	$52,830	$26,940	270
85	Portland, OR	$49,760	$28,310	840
86	Springfield, MA	$60,270	$29,170	280
87	Champaign, IL	$51,070	$28,700	70
88	Lake County, IL	$63,240	$27,780	240
89	Youngstown, OH	$45,800	$28,440	90
90	Nashua, NH	$42,200	$30,410	230
91	Gary, IN	$43,910	$32,330	100
92	Reno, NV	$47,400	$22,620	450
93	Manchester, NH	$48,010	$31,570	100
94	Bend, OR	$41,470	$31,110	70
95	Fort Lauderdale, FL	$48,770	$28,640	620
96	St. Cloud, MN	$48,530	$34,170	50
97	Shreveport, LA	$41,670	$31,640	120
98	Santa Cruz, CA	$49,270	$26,750	160
99	Boulder, CO	$46,130	$27,340	220
100	Springfield, MO	$49,130	$27,400	50

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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