Q: Do cooks make good money?

No, cooks usually do not make good money. The average annual wage for restaurant cooks is under $30,000. Entry-level positions start at $25,350 per year, while most experienced workers earn $38,090 per year.

Q: Do line cooks make good money?

No, most line cooks do not make good money. The average pay for a line cook is around $12 an hour. If you have earned a degree or have a background in culinary school, you can earn up to $18 an hour as a line cook.

Q: How much does a professional cook make a year?

A professional cook makes around $32,000 a year. Your salary as a cook will vary due to many factors, some within your control while others are not. Differences in Salary Include: Location Type of establishment Experience Education Specific responsibilities

Question 1

How long does it take to become a Cook?

Accepted Answer

It takes 2 years of professional experience to become a cook. That is the time it takes to learn specific cook skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education.

Question 2

Do cooks make good money?

Accepted Answer

No, cooks usually do not make good money. The average annual wage for restaurant cooks is under $30,000. Entry-level positions start at $25,350 per year, while most experienced workers earn $38,090 per year.

Question 3

How do I become a cook with no experience?

Accepted Answer

You can become a cook with no experience by working your way up the kitchen hierarchy. You can start as a dishwasher or a prep cook and make your way to the position you wish to have.

By starting at a lower position in a restaurant, you can build a relationship with management. You are more likely to achieve a cooking position with no experience if you work up to it.

Question 4

How do I start a career in cooking?

Accepted Answer

To start a career in cooking, you will need to go to culinary school. Going to culinary school is especially valuable in learning how to become a cooking professional. If you don't know what area of the field you want to work in most, culinary school is an excellent way to figure that out.

Question 5

Prep Cook vs Line Cook

Accepted Answer

A prep cook is a person who prepares the ingredients for a meal, while a line cook is a person who cooks a meal.

A prep cook is an employee on a kitchen staff team that handles the ingredients that go into making specific dishes from a restaurant's menu. They need to have a basic understanding of cooking and have a strong attention to detail. Tasks of a prep cook include managing inventory of kitchen ingredients, restocking, measuring ingredients, and cleaning duties.

Question 6

What qualifications do you need to be a cook?

Accepted Answer

To be a cook, you will need qualifications such as culinary experience, knowledge of food safety procedures, and personal training.

Many businesses will not hire a cook that has no experience. It's beneficial to have some experience working in the food industry or a kitchen professionally.

Question 7

What is a good starting salary for a Cook?

Accepted Answer

A good starting salary for a cook is $24,000 in the United States. That puts you in the 10th percentile of annual income for a cook in the U.S., which is about what you would expect if you were new to the field. The average salary for cooks is $30,564, but that normally requires some level of experience to achieve. Furthermore, a good starting salary for a cook can vary by state.

Question 8

Do line cooks make good money?

Accepted Answer

No, most line cooks do not make good money. The average pay for a line cook is around $12 an hour. If you have earned a degree or have a background in culinary school, you can earn up to $18 an hour as a line cook.

Question 9

How much does a professional cook make a year?

Accepted Answer

A professional cook makes around $32,000 a year. Your salary as a cook will vary due to many factors, some within your control while others are not.

Differences in Salary Include:

Location
Type of establishment
Experience
Education
Specific responsibilities

Question 10

What is the highest-paying cooking job?

Accepted Answer

Working as a private chef is the highest-paying cooking job. Private chefs make over $65,000 a year on average and are responsible for cooking in-house for their client(s).

Private chefs usually live on-site so that it's easy to provide multiple meals a day. Your daily job will more likely be less hectic than working in a commercial kitchen. You'll be familiar with your client(s) likes and dislikes, as well as food allergies and complications.

Question 11

Can a cook make 100k?

Accepted Answer

No, you cannot make $100,000 per year as a cook. It is highly unlikely to earn over $100k because the average annual salary for a cook is $30,564. Even cooks in higher-paid positions do not typically earn more than $37,000 per year.

Question 12

Is cooking a good career?

Accepted Answer

Yes, cooking can be a good career. The foodservice industry is growing fast, making becoming a cook a lucrative and appealing career for some people.

Working in the field of cooking can be very rewarding and beneficial. It offers creativity and freedom in your work, as well as versatility. You can take your culinary career anywhere.

Question 13

What are careers in the culinary arts?

Accepted Answer

Executive chef, head chef, and deputy chef are careers in the culinary arts. Here are descriptions of these careers and others in the culinary arts:

Executive Chef
Not all restaurants have executive chefs. They are reserved for large-scale restaurants, including some chains, and those at hotels, resorts, cruise lines, and other venues. Executive chefs generally do very little actual cooking.
Their primary work task is to manage the kitchen staff and the kitchen itself. Duties include managing and training personnel, planning menus, overseeing the culinary budget, and sometimes kitchen purchases. All executive chefs have a lot of experience in lower-level chef roles, as they need to understand how every aspect of a kitchen operates effectively.
The average salary of an executive chef in the United States is $74,331 per year.
Head Chef
The head Chef, also referred to as the Chef de Cuisine, is at the top of the hierarchy in a kitchen that does not have an executive chef. They also control all aspects of a kitchen.
Responsibilities include creating menus and special meals, controlling kitchen costs, and overseeing kitchen staff. Some head chefs opt to leave the cooking to the sous chefs and the rest of the kitchen team, while others take a more hands-on approach and prefer to be a part of the daily cooking activities.
The average salary of a head chef in the United States is $57,413 per year.
Deputy Chef
The deputy Chef, also known as the sous chef, is the second in command in a kitchen. Some restaurants have several sous chefs, while others only have one.
Some duties of the sous chef may overlap with the head chef, although a sous chef is always going to be a hands-on chef, participating in much of the cooking and other kitchen duties. The sous chef oversees the subordinate kitchen staff and the daily activities in the kitchen.
The average salary of a deputy chef in the United States is $49,480 per year.
Station Chef
The station chef also referred to as the Chef de Partie, has perhaps one of the most critical participating roles in the kitchen. These chefs cook the meals that are being brought out to the customers of a restaurant.
However, normally there are multiple positions for a station chef, meaning there are usually several station chefs in a kitchen. Each chef is responsible for a different "station," and there are chefs that are devoted to different food categories. Station assignments may include fish cooking, meat cooking, sauce making, vegetables, sauteing, and pastries.
The average salary of a station chef in the United States is $39,082 per year.
Junior Chef
The junior chef is also known as the Commis Chef. They work with the station chefs to learn and become trained in the kitchen environment. This is an entry-level position in a kitchen, one most chefs, no matter their current rank, have done at some point in their careers.
The average salary of a junior chef in the United States is $35,333 per year.

Question 14

What are the best cooking jobs?

Accepted Answer

The best cooking jobs are pastry, banquet, sushi, and executive chef. As all of these jobs specialize in the cooking field, they each come with different benefits.

A pastry cook specializes in creating sweet and savory dessert items. While a banquet cook can make pastries also, they specialize in making large batches of food. They will work weddings, events, and at resorts.

Question 15

Where do cooks get paid the most?

Accepted Answer

Cooks get paid the most in the North and Northwest states.

The Top Highest-Paying States For Cooks:

Wyoming at $33,000
Minnesota at $32,000
Washington at $32,000
Delaware at $32,000
Michigan at $31,000

Question 16

What percentage of Cooks are female?

Accepted Answer

30.2% of cooks are female in the United States. This is 0.3 percentage points higher than last year. Additionally, the percentage of female cooks has decreased by -2.0 percentage points since 2010. That means there are a total of 656,811 female cooks in the U.S. and 1,518,060 male cooks in the United States. Note that Zippia's estimate accounts only for the 2,174,871 people with the specific job title of cook and doesn't include grouping similar job titles, or people with potentially similar credentialing.

Question 17

How do I put my line cook job on my resume?

Accepted Answer

You put your line cook job under the work experience section of your resume when applying for a job in culinary services. You can provide detail on your application regarding your role and specialty as a line cook.

Question 18

How do you describe cooking on a resume?

Accepted Answer

To describe cooking on a resume, list as many specific skills relevant to the job you are applying for. If you have attended culinary school, include this at the bottom of your resume after your work experience.

Question 19

What is a good objective for a cook's resume?

Accepted Answer

A good objective for a cook's resume is one that highlights skills, dependability with work history, and training to back it up. Employers want to see a mix of what skills you have in the kitchen and that you would be a good fit for their specific work environment.

Frequently asked questions about cooks

Questions about becoming a cook