Culinary chef vs line chef

The differences between culinary chefs and line 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 a line chef. Additionally, a culinary chef has an average salary of $49,417, which is higher than the $26,651 average annual salary of a line chef.

The top three skills for a culinary chef include culinary, fine dining and food service. The most important skills for a line chef are kitchen equipment, sanitation standards, and food handling.

Culinary chef vs line chef overview

	Culinary Chef	Line Chef
Yearly salary	$49,417	$26,651
Hourly rate	$23.76	$12.81
Growth rate	15%	15%
Number of jobs	20,066	144,227
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 46%	Associate Degree, 34%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

Culinary chef vs line chef salary

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

	Culinary Chef	Line Chef
Average salary	$49,417	$26,651
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $70,000	Between $18,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	-	Chicopee, MA
Highest paying state	-	New Hampshire
Best paying company	-	Syracuse University
Best paying industry	-	Education

Differences between culinary chef and line chef education

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

	Culinary Chef	Line Chef
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 46%	Associate Degree, 34%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	Boston University	Stanford University

Culinary chef vs line chef demographics

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

	Culinary Chef	Line Chef
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 63.9% Female, 36.1%	Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6%
Race ratio	Black 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, 17.8% Asian, 10.4% White, 55.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between culinary chef and line 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.

Line chef example responsibilities.

Manage food expo; facilitate food temp logs; creation of menu specials; management and supervision of production staff
Clean stoves, ovens, shrowds, floors, stainless steel tables.
Prepare food for special groups including those who have eating disorders or allergies.
Close down the kitchen after each shift, making sure all BOH staff follow closing checklist for kitchen stations.
Maintain highest level of cleanliness and sanitation
Maintain company and government standards of preparation, safety and cleanliness.

Culinary chef vs line chef skills

Common culinary chef skills

Culinary, 30%
Fine Dining, 10%
Food Service, 8%
Cuisine, 7%
Kitchen Equipment, 6%
Recipe Development, 4%

Common line chef skills

Kitchen Equipment, 16%
Sanitation Standards, 11%
Food Handling, 8%
Customer Service, 8%
Cleanliness, 8%
Broilers, 7%

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Culinary Chef
Culinary Chef vs Line Chef

Updated January 8, 2025

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