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The differences between lead cooks and kitchen leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lead cook has an average salary of $35,964, which is higher than the $35,678 average annual salary of a kitchen lead.
The top three skills for a lead cook include customer service, food handling and culinary. The most important skills for a kitchen lead are customer service, culinary, and food products.
| Lead Cook | Kitchen Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $35,964 | $35,678 |
| Hourly rate | $17.29 | $17.15 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 160,223 | 56,300 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 35% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Average age | 38 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A lead cook, or lead line cook, is an individual restaurant employee who is in charge of supervising the chain of food preparation done by line cooks. Lead cooks work directly under head cooks or chefs who provide instructions in preparing meals. They are well-versed in the restaurant's food health and safety, such as regular hand washing, utensil sanitizing, and proper garbage disposal. To be a successful lead cook, they must obtain knowledge of various cooking techniques and be passionate about food.
A kitchen manager acts as the overseer of food preparation and cooking. They ensure that all staff are working efficiently. They maintain the cleanliness of workstations and monitor all supplies used. To avoid lapses, they monitor the staff during cooking to ensure that the kitchen serves the best quality of food. Also, they create reports on the monthly expenses of supplies.
Lead cooks and kitchen leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Cook | Kitchen Lead | |
| Average salary | $35,964 | $35,678 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $46,000 | Between $27,000 And $45,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Redmond, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Freeport-McMoRan | Zoës Kitchen |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a lead cook and a kitchen lead in terms of educational background:
| Lead Cook | Kitchen Lead | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 35% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Most common major | Culinary Arts | Culinary Arts |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between lead cooks' and kitchen leads' demographics:
| Lead Cook | Kitchen Lead | |
| Average age | 38 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4% | Male, 67.1% Female, 32.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 9.4% White, 57.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 7.0% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 10% |