Fast food cook vs cook/dishwasher

The differences between fast food cooks and cook/dishwashers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a cook/dishwasher has an average salary of $31,703, which is higher than the $26,093 average annual salary of a fast food cook.

The top three skills for a fast food cook include food handling, safety standards and customer service. The most important skills for a cook/dishwasher are wash dishes, customer service, and dishwashers.

Fast food cook vs cook/dishwasher overview

	Fast Food Cook	Cook/Dishwasher
Yearly salary	$26,093	$31,703
Hourly rate	$12.54	$15.24
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	275,335	133,000
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 51%	High School Diploma, 58%
Average age	38	36
Years of experience	4	-

What does a fast food cook do?

Fast-food cooks maintain utensils, food preparation areas, and cooking surfaces. Besides cooking and serving beverages, fast food cooks also perform their daily duties as per the safety standards and health standards. Their other duties include ordering and taking supply deliveries, cleaning, preparing meals ingredients, and running cooking equipment such as griddles, deep fat fryers, or grills.

What does a cook/dishwasher do?

Cooks/dishwashers must develop kitchen skills to excel in this line of job. Each cook or dishwasher must learn to develop skills in food preparation, sanitation, and customer service. Cooks or dishwashers can be assigned to different areas, either in the kitchen area, food preparation, or in washing dishes. The scope of their responsibilities may include the cooking surface area, specific food items, or menu items. Also, they are expected to maintain the cleanliness of the kitchen, assist in preparing food, and may do any other duties demanded by the chef.

Fast food cook vs cook/dishwasher salary

Fast food cooks and cook/dishwashers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Fast Food Cook	Cook/Dishwasher
Average salary	$26,093	$31,703
Salary range	Between $19,000 And $34,000	Between $24,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Tacoma, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	Dell	New Seasons Market
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Hospitality

Differences between fast food cook and cook/dishwasher education

There are a few differences between a fast food cook and a cook/dishwasher in terms of educational background:

	Fast Food Cook	Cook/Dishwasher
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 51%	High School Diploma, 58%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Fast food cook vs cook/dishwasher demographics

Here are the differences between fast food cooks' and cook/dishwashers' demographics:

	Fast Food Cook	Cook/Dishwasher
Average age	38	36
Gender ratio	Male, 74.2% Female, 25.8%	Male, 81.7% Female, 18.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 8.6% White, 56.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	Black or African American, 12.6% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 5.9% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%
LGBT Percentage	6%	5%

Differences between fast food cook and cook/dishwasher duties and responsibilities

Fast food cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Execute daily operations of filtering of the fryers.
Leverage teamwork to fully utilize kitchen staff to generate remarkable food and service to ensure customer satisfaction.
Can make and food at mcdonalds.

Cook/dishwasher example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Cook and prepare sandwiches and entrees throughout the shift, working with slicers, grills, and fryers.
Enter orders into pos system.
Organize groceries as to ensure use before expiration.
Host: open/close shifts, greet and seat tables, run seating board.
Serve food to customers, run the cash register and also buse tables and wash dishes.

Fast food cook vs cook/dishwasher skills

Common fast food cook skills

Food Handling, 18%
Safety Standards, 17%
Customer Service, 10%
Grills, 6%
Kitchen Equipment, 5%
Culinary, 4%

Common cook/dishwasher skills

Wash Dishes, 44%
Customer Service, 12%
Dishwashers, 7%
Prep Food, 6%
Safety Standards, 4%
Kitchen Equipment, 3%

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Fast Food Cook vs Cook/Dishwasher

Updated January 8, 2025

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