Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of food prep salary by state for the United States:
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Massachusetts has the highest food prep salary of $32,244
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Wyoming has the lowest food prep salary of $20,435
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The national average salary for food preps is $25,840
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The national hourly pay for food preps is $12.42
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 food preps 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 food prep 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 food preps after this adjustment? That would be Massachusetts.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for food prep salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Food Preps By State
| Rank | State | Average Food Prep Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | $32,244 | $26,000 | $39,000 |
| 2 | Vermont | $30,421 | $25,000 | $36,000 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | $29,604 | $24,000 | $35,000 |
| 4 | Maine | $29,298 | $24,000 | $34,000 |
| 5 | New Jersey | $28,993 | $21,000 | $38,000 |
| 6 | New York | $28,149 | $21,000 | $36,000 |
| 7 | Rhode Island | $27,708 | $22,000 | $34,000 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $27,681 | $21,000 | $35,000 |
| 9 | Washington | $27,496 | $20,000 | $36,000 |
| 10 | California | $27,426 | $18,000 | $40,000 |
| 11 | Maryland | $26,979 | $20,000 | $36,000 |
| 12 | Oregon | $25,782 | $19,000 | $34,000 |
| 13 | Colorado | $25,702 | $18,000 | $35,000 |
| 14 | Texas | $25,557 | $17,000 | $36,000 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | $25,116 | $19,000 | $32,000 |
| 16 | Idaho | $24,974 | $18,000 | $33,000 |
| 17 | Illinois | $24,943 | $18,000 | $33,000 |
| 18 | Utah | $24,595 | $17,000 | $34,000 |
| 19 | Pennsylvania | $24,441 | $18,000 | $32,000 |
| 20 | Missouri | $24,267 | $17,000 | $33,000 |
| 21 | Minnesota | $24,223 | $18,000 | $31,000 |
| 22 | Arizona | $24,177 | $16,000 | $35,000 |
| 23 | Kansas | $23,807 | $17,000 | $33,000 |
| 24 | New Mexico | $23,681 | $16,000 | $34,000 |
| 25 | Nebraska | $23,442 | $17,000 | $31,000 |
| 26 | Kentucky | $23,140 | $16,000 | $31,000 |
| 27 | Arkansas | $22,965 | $16,000 | $32,000 |
| 28 | Hawaii | $22,914 | $20,000 | $26,000 |
| 29 | Tennessee | $22,897 | $16,000 | $32,000 |
| 30 | Indiana | $22,896 | $17,000 | $30,000 |
| 31 | North Dakota | $22,831 | $17,000 | $29,000 |
| 32 | Georgia | $22,797 | $16,000 | $31,000 |
| 33 | Ohio | $22,622 | $17,000 | $30,000 |
| 34 | Alabama | $22,590 | $15,000 | $31,000 |
| 35 | Iowa | $22,424 | $16,000 | $29,000 |
| 36 | Michigan | $22,305 | $17,000 | $29,000 |
| 37 | Montana | $22,304 | $17,000 | $29,000 |
| 38 | Delaware | $22,261 | $16,000 | $29,000 |
| 39 | Mississippi | $22,049 | $15,000 | $31,000 |
| 40 | North Carolina | $22,040 | $15,000 | $30,000 |
| 41 | Nevada | $21,988 | $15,000 | $31,000 |
| 42 | South Dakota | $21,826 | $16,000 | $28,000 |
| 43 | Virginia | $21,397 | $15,000 | $29,000 |
| 44 | Oklahoma | $21,065 | $14,000 | $29,000 |
| 45 | Florida | $21,061 | $14,000 | $30,000 |
| 46 | Alaska | $20,946 | $19,000 | $23,000 |
| 47 | West Virginia | $20,936 | $15,000 | $28,000 |
| 48 | Louisiana | $20,803 | $14,000 | $29,000 |
| 49 | South Carolina | $20,572 | $14,000 | $28,000 |
| 50 | Wyoming | $20,435 | $15,000 | $27,000 |
Methodology: Food Prep Salary By State
To better understand food prep 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 food preps by state.
We took the average annual salary data for food preps from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for food preps.
Food Prep Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for food preps?
The highest-paid state for food preps is Massachusetts with an average salary of $32,244 per year.
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What city pays food preps the most?
Boston, MA pays food preps the most with an average salary of $32,273 per year.
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What is the worst state for food preps?
The worst state for food preps is Wyoming with an average salary of $20,435 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.
