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The differences between pastry chefs and cake decorators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a pastry chef has an average salary of $44,879, which is higher than the $31,509 average annual salary of a cake decorator.
The top three skills for a pastry chef include culinary, food handling and customer service. The most important skills for a cake decorator are food safety, food handling, and safety standards.
| Pastry Chef | Cake Decorator | |
| Yearly salary | $44,879 | $31,509 |
| Hourly rate | $21.58 | $15.15 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 18,844 | 4,788 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | 4 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 49% | High School Diploma, 31% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
Pastry chefs are culinary artists specializing in the creation of desserts, bread, and sweets. They order supplies and ingredients for the restaurant, aside from creating, decorating, and presenting pastries. They are in charge of recruiting employees to aid in pastry goods production and other enterprise aspects. The skills required for this job are attention to detail, experience as a baker or any relevant role, knowledge about sanitation principles, creativity, and leadership skills.
A cake decorator is responsible for designing cakes for special occasions, following the clients' specifications and special requests. Cake decorators directly communicate with the client for their orders, suggesting decorations based on the event's theme, and delivering the item securely. Cake decorators also strictly adhere to the highest sanitation and hygienic standards to ensure the product's quality. They monitor inventories and stock supplies and research current market trends. Meeting client demands to increase sales and revenues.
Pastry chefs and cake decorators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Pastry Chef | Cake Decorator | |
| Average salary | $44,879 | $31,509 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $78,000 | Between $22,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | Centreville, VA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Maine |
| Best paying company | The Culinary Institute of America | Rich Products |
| Best paying industry | Media | Retail |
There are a few differences between a pastry chef and a cake decorator in terms of educational background:
| Pastry Chef | Cake Decorator | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 49% | High School Diploma, 31% |
| Most common major | Culinary Arts | Culinary Arts |
| Most common college | Drexel University | - |
Here are the differences between pastry chefs' and cake decorators' demographics:
| Pastry Chef | Cake Decorator | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.7% Female, 64.3% | Male, 8.9% Female, 91.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 10.7% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 22.3% Asian, 3.4% White, 58.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 4% |