Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of executive chef salary by state for the United States:
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Hawaii has the highest executive chef salary of $79,287
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Wyoming has the lowest executive chef salary of $33,638
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The national average salary for executive chefs is $59,416
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The national hourly pay for executive chefs is $28.57
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do executive chefs get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for executive chef by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for executive chefs after this adjustment? That would be Hawaii.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for executive chef salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Executive Chefs By State
| Rank | State | Average Executive Chef Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $79,287 | $58,000 | $107,000 |
| 2 | California | $72,275 | $46,000 | $111,000 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $71,960 | $47,000 | $109,000 |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $69,572 | $46,000 | $104,000 |
| 5 | Delaware | $68,673 | $45,000 | $104,000 |
| 6 | Rhode Island | $68,299 | $45,000 | $102,000 |
| 7 | Nevada | $68,037 | $44,000 | $104,000 |
| 8 | Washington | $66,492 | $43,000 | $100,000 |
| 9 | Vermont | $66,440 | $44,000 | $98,000 |
| 10 | Maryland | $64,324 | $42,000 | $97,000 |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | $63,137 | $41,000 | $95,000 |
| 12 | Illinois | $61,401 | $41,000 | $90,000 |
| 13 | New York | $60,858 | $40,000 | $92,000 |
| 14 | New Hampshire | $60,679 | $40,000 | $90,000 |
| 15 | Maine | $60,280 | $40,000 | $89,000 |
| 16 | Virginia | $60,188 | $39,000 | $91,000 |
| 17 | Oregon | $59,619 | $39,000 | $91,000 |
| 18 | West Virginia | $59,316 | $39,000 | $89,000 |
| 19 | Texas | $58,441 | $39,000 | $86,000 |
| 20 | North Carolina | $58,356 | $38,000 | $87,000 |
| 21 | North Dakota | $58,094 | $40,000 | $83,000 |
| 22 | Michigan | $57,838 | $38,000 | $86,000 |
| 23 | Missouri | $56,537 | $38,000 | $82,000 |
| 24 | Florida | $56,026 | $37,000 | $84,000 |
| 25 | New Mexico | $55,685 | $37,000 | $82,000 |
| 26 | Mississippi | $55,308 | $37,000 | $81,000 |
| 27 | Kansas | $55,139 | $38,000 | $79,000 |
| 28 | Georgia | $54,989 | $37,000 | $81,000 |
| 29 | Colorado | $53,198 | $36,000 | $77,000 |
| 30 | Ohio | $53,074 | $35,000 | $79,000 |
| 31 | Indiana | $52,937 | $35,000 | $78,000 |
| 32 | Arizona | $52,572 | $35,000 | $78,000 |
| 33 | Tennessee | $52,267 | $35,000 | $76,000 |
| 34 | Minnesota | $52,267 | $35,000 | $76,000 |
| 35 | Alabama | $50,713 | $34,000 | $74,000 |
| 36 | Oklahoma | $50,526 | $34,000 | $73,000 |
| 37 | South Carolina | $50,401 | $33,000 | $74,000 |
| 38 | Nebraska | $49,532 | $34,000 | $71,000 |
| 39 | Connecticut | $49,290 | $32,000 | $74,000 |
| 40 | Louisiana | $48,321 | $32,000 | $72,000 |
| 41 | Wisconsin | $48,017 | $32,000 | $71,000 |
| 42 | Kentucky | $47,035 | $31,000 | $69,000 |
| 43 | Arkansas | $46,609 | $31,000 | $67,000 |
| 44 | Iowa | $45,389 | $31,000 | $66,000 |
| 45 | Idaho | $45,142 | $29,000 | $67,000 |
| 46 | Montana | $44,783 | $30,000 | $65,000 |
| 47 | Alaska | $44,759 | $33,000 | $60,000 |
| 48 | Utah | $44,533 | $29,000 | $66,000 |
| 49 | South Dakota | $42,881 | $29,000 | $62,000 |
| 50 | Wyoming | $33,638 | $23,000 | $48,000 |
Methodology: Executive Chef Salary By State
To better understand executive chef pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for executive chefs by state.
We took the average annual salary data for executive chefs from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for executive chefs.
Executive Chef Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for executive chefs?
The highest-paid state for executive chefs is Hawaii with an average salary of $79,287 per year.
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What city pays executive chefs the most?
San Francisco, CA pays executive chefs the most with an average salary of $75,757 per year.
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What is the worst state for executive chefs?
The worst state for executive chefs is Wyoming with an average salary of $33,638 per year.
Author
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.
