Meal cook vs lead cook

The differences between meal cooks and lead cooks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a meal cook and a lead cook. Additionally, a lead cook has an average salary of $35,964, which is higher than the $33,089 average annual salary of a meal cook.

The top three skills for a meal cook include food safety, food preparation and companionship. The most important skills for a lead cook are customer service, food handling, and culinary.

Meal cook vs lead cook overview

	Meal Cook	Lead Cook
Yearly salary	$33,089	$35,964
Hourly rate	$15.91	$17.29
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	147,104	160,223
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 40%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Meal cook vs lead cook salary

Meal cooks and lead cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Meal Cook	Lead Cook
Average salary	$33,089	$35,964
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $41,000	Between $27,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Freeport-McMoRan
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between meal cook and lead cook education

There are a few differences between a meal cook and a lead cook in terms of educational background:

	Meal Cook	Lead Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 40%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Meal cook vs lead cook demographics

Here are the differences between meal cooks' and lead cooks' demographics:

	Meal Cook	Lead Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0%	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 59.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between meal cook and lead cook duties and responsibilities

Meal cook example responsibilities.

Develop ability to manage multiple stations simultaneously while maintaining high levels of culinary excellence.
Assist with heavy lifting and drive car to help with groceries and other supplies.
Verify patient information, new medications and allergies educate patients by providing medication and diet information.
Create pizzas for customers as listed or request and run a large pizza oven.

Lead cook example responsibilities.

Manage food expo; facilitate food temp logs; creation of menu specials; management and supervision of production staff
Manage inventory and purchasing of groceries.
Operate standard cooking equipment including slicers, food choppers, fryers, refrigerators, ovens and stoves.
Operate ovens, stoves, grills, microwaves, turbo chefs, and fryers.
Use and clean commercial ovens, meat slicers, steamers, combination ovens and steam kettles.
Operate ovens, stoves, grills, microwaves, kettles, and tilt skillet.

Meal cook vs lead cook skills

Common meal cook skills

Food Safety, 29%
Food Preparation, 22%
Companionship, 10%
Doctor Appointments, 8%
Food Orders, 6%
Administer Medications, 5%

Common lead cook skills

Customer Service, 14%
Food Handling, 14%
Culinary, 11%
Food Service, 11%
Kitchen Equipment, 7%
Math, 5%

Meal Cook vs. similar jobs

Meal Cook related careers

Meal Cook related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Meal Cook
Meal Cook vs Lead Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse food preparation and restaurant jobs