Baker's assistant vs pastry decorator

The differences between baker's assistants and pastry decorators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a baker's assistant and a pastry decorator. Additionally, a pastry decorator has an average salary of $31,862, which is higher than the $28,597 average annual salary of a baker's assistant.

The top three skills for a baker's assistant include bakery products, customer service and cake orders. The most important skills for a pastry decorator are custom orders, specialty cakes, and .

Baker's assistant vs pastry decorator overview

	Baker's Assistant	Pastry Decorator
Yearly salary	$28,597	$31,862
Hourly rate	$13.75	$15.32
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	7,530	3,176
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 35%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	12	12

Baker's assistant vs pastry decorator salary

Baker's assistants and pastry decorators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Baker's Assistant	Pastry Decorator
Average salary	$28,597	$31,862
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $39,000	Between $23,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Daly City, CA	-
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	-
Best paying company	Houston Methodist	-
Best paying industry	Retail	-

Differences between baker's assistant and pastry decorator education

There are a few differences between a baker's assistant and a pastry decorator in terms of educational background:

	Baker's Assistant	Pastry Decorator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 35%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Baker's assistant vs pastry decorator demographics

Here are the differences between baker's assistants' and pastry decorators' demographics:

	Baker's Assistant	Pastry Decorator
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 39.4% Female, 60.6%	Male, 18.7% Female, 81.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 8.4% White, 58.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 8.6% White, 57.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between baker's assistant and pastry decorator duties and responsibilities

Baker's assistant example responsibilities.

Manage inventory of ingredients and culinary supplies.
Help cashiers neatly arrange groceries inside each customer's shopping cart with cardboard boxes.
Ring up sales on the POS system and process credit card and cash payments.
Apply icings, or other toppings to bake goods, using spatulas or brushes.
Assist customers with self checkout, bag groceries, help customers to there cars if need
Process customer transaction on POS system with proper procedures and with proper cash handling mechanics.

Pastry decorator example responsibilities.

Maintain high CIA standards in all dessert preparation and presentation
Decorate cupcakes to owner's specifications using different decorating tools and techniques.
Keep slicers clean to health department standards between usages.
Handle the meat slicers, clean and sanitize after use.
Compete in Walmart cake decorating competition.

Baker's assistant vs pastry decorator skills

Common baker's assistant skills

Bakery Products, 20%
Customer Service, 14%
Cake Orders, 13%
Kitchen Equipment, 12%
Food Preparation, 10%
Donuts, 5%

Common pastry decorator skills

Custom Orders, 59%
Specialty Cakes, 41%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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