Meal cook vs line cook

The differences between meal cooks and line 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 line cook. Additionally, a meal cook has an average salary of $33,089, which is higher than the $32,894 average annual salary of a line cook.

The top three skills for a meal cook include food safety, food preparation and companionship. The most important skills for a line cook are culinary, sanitation standards, and food handling.

Meal cook vs line cook overview

	Meal Cook	Line Cook
Yearly salary	$33,089	$32,894
Hourly rate	$15.91	$15.81
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	147,104	168,993
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 40%	High School Diploma, 36%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Meal cook vs line cook salary

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

	Meal Cook	Line Cook
Average salary	$33,089	$32,894
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $41,000	Between $26,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Gate City Bank
Best paying industry	-	Hospitality

Differences between meal cook and line cook education

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

	Meal Cook	Line Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 40%	High School Diploma, 36%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Meal cook vs line cook demographics

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

	Meal Cook	Line Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0%	Male, 73.1% Female, 26.9%
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, 9.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 8.9% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between meal cook and line 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.

Line cook example responsibilities.

Used strong organizational skills to manage steamers efficiently for both eat-in and take-out services.
Supervise cooks and manage the preparation, portioning, garnishing, and storage of all food items, cutting meat size.
Manage the POS system (adding/deleting specials, editing prices, viewing server appetizer/dessert sales and their server report information).
Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Used equipment such as meat slicers, salamanders and steamers.
Develop food preparation skills and knowledge of tools involve; such as proper use of knives and automate slicers.

Meal cook vs line cook skills

Common meal cook skills

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

Common line cook skills

Culinary, 12%
Sanitation Standards, 11%
Food Handling, 11%
Team Work, 9%
Kitchen Equipment, 8%
Cleanliness, 8%

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Meal Cook vs Line Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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