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Culinary chef vs executive chef

The differences between culinary chefs and executive chefs can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a culinary chef and an executive chef. Additionally, an executive chef has an average salary of $59,416, which is higher than the $49,417 average annual salary of a culinary chef.

The top three skills for a culinary chef include culinary, fine dining and food service. The most important skills for an executive chef are culinary, food preparation, and customer service.

Culinary chef vs executive chef overview

Culinary ChefExecutive Chef
Yearly salary$49,417$59,416
Hourly rate$23.76$28.57
Growth rate15%15%
Number of jobs20,06683,085
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 46%Associate Degree, 56%
Average age4242
Years of experience66

Culinary chef vs executive chef salary

Culinary chefs and executive chefs have different pay scales, as shown below.

Culinary ChefExecutive Chef
Average salary$49,417$59,416
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $70,000Between $40,000 And $87,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Hawaii
Best paying company-Bridgewater Associates
Best paying industry-Hospitality

Differences between culinary chef and executive chef education

There are a few differences between a culinary chef and an executive chef in terms of educational background:

Culinary ChefExecutive Chef
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 46%Associate Degree, 56%
Most common majorCulinary ArtsCulinary Arts
Most common collegeBoston UniversityDrexel University

Culinary chef vs executive chef demographics

Here are the differences between culinary chefs' and executive chefs' demographics:

Culinary ChefExecutive Chef
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 63.9% Female, 36.1%Male, 87.5% Female, 12.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 11.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 10.8% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between culinary chef and executive chef duties and responsibilities

Culinary chef example responsibilities.

  • Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
  • Provide informative culinary instruction and product knowledge to create exceptional customer experiences.
  • Balance emerging trends and culinary creativity with cost, utilization and operational execution.
  • Develop seasonal menus focusing on classical French cuisine with consideration to customer base, product availability and cost.
  • Develop and open a USDA inspect production facility.

Executive chef example responsibilities.

  • Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
  • Cater off-premise events, parties, holiday dinners and seasonal BBQ cookouts.
  • Own and operate a full charge BBQ catering business from a 30 foot mobile kitchen.
  • Close high percentage of sales opportunities for large builder and designer accounts with strategic VIP events.
  • Supervise high volume and VIP catering events to include black tie, charity and outdoor events.
  • Create systems to control BOH operations including: purchasing, receiving, storage, inventory & food cost tracking.
  • Show more

Culinary chef vs executive chef skills

Common culinary chef skills
  • Culinary, 30%
  • Fine Dining, 10%
  • Food Service, 8%
  • Cuisine, 7%
  • Kitchen Equipment, 6%
  • Recipe Development, 4%
Common executive chef skills
  • Culinary, 14%
  • Food Preparation, 8%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Kitchen Operations, 6%
  • Food Safety, 5%
  • Food Service, 5%

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