Dietary worker vs dietary cook

The differences between dietary workers and dietary cooks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a dietary worker has an average salary of $27,601, which is higher than the $27,365 average annual salary of a dietary cook.

The top three skills for a dietary worker include patients, food service and customer service. The most important skills for a dietary cook are patients, food handling, and food service.

Dietary worker vs dietary cook overview

	Dietary Worker	Dietary Cook
Yearly salary	$27,601	$27,365
Hourly rate	$13.27	$13.16
Growth rate	2%	16%
Number of jobs	44,736	191,406
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 45%	High School Diploma, 41%
Average age	37	38
Years of experience	-	2

Dietary worker vs dietary cook salary

Dietary workers and dietary cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Dietary Worker	Dietary Cook
Average salary	$27,601	$27,365
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $35,000	Between $21,000 And $34,000
Highest paying City	-	Omaha, NE
Highest paying state	-	Utah
Best paying company	-	SantaFe HealthCare
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between dietary worker and dietary cook education

There are a few differences between a dietary worker and a dietary cook in terms of educational background:

	Dietary Worker	Dietary Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 45%	High School Diploma, 41%
Most common major	Business	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Dietary worker vs dietary cook demographics

Here are the differences between dietary workers' and dietary cooks' demographics:

	Dietary Worker	Dietary Cook
Average age	37	38
Gender ratio	Male, 44.3% Female, 55.7%	Male, 35.3% Female, 64.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 8.2% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between dietary worker and dietary cook duties and responsibilities

Dietary worker example responsibilities.

Job duties consist of delivering food trays to patients, maintaining a clean and sanitary work space, and restocking products.
Prepare and provide healthy meal to patients according to their nutritional requirement.
Assist with planning and directing food preparation and culinary activities along with safely handling and storing all products appropriately.
Experience in operating a heavy duty dishwasher
Stack washable items for dishwasher and operate dishwasher according to department guidelines.
Distribute meals, help with cleanup and adhere to hospital sanitation policies.

Dietary cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Provide attention and compassion to all resident's.
Train with culinary chefs and staff members on dinning facility services and organization.
Utilize a broad range of culinary skills to include grill and saute as well as salad and deserts.
Make sure food is prepared within the guidelines of ServSafe and residents' with special needs are tend to.
Prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for residents according to SERVSAFE and HAACP procedures and standards on a daily basis.

Dietary worker vs dietary cook skills

Common dietary worker skills

Patients, 16%
Food Service, 15%
Customer Service, 13%
Dishes, 9%
Phone Calls, 9%
Patient Orders, 6%

Common dietary cook skills

Patients, 16%
Food Handling, 16%
Food Service, 13%
Kitchen Equipment, 9%
Meal Service, 7%
Rehabilitation, 6%

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Dietary Worker
Dietary Worker vs Dietary Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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