Prep person vs lead cook

The differences between prep people 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 prep person and a lead cook. Additionally, a lead cook has an average salary of $35,964, which is higher than the $33,901 average annual salary of a prep person.

The top three skills for a prep person include cleanliness, food products and dishwashers. The most important skills for a lead cook are customer service, food handling, and culinary.

Prep person vs lead cook overview

	Prep Person	Lead Cook
Yearly salary	$33,901	$35,964
Hourly rate	$16.30	$17.29
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	165,758	160,223
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Prep person vs lead cook salary

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

	Prep Person	Lead Cook
Average salary	$33,901	$35,964
Salary range	Between $19,000 And $57,000	Between $27,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Washington
Best paying company	24 Carrots Catering and Events	Freeport-McMoRan
Best paying industry	Professional	Health Care

Differences between prep person and lead cook education

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

	Prep Person	Lead Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Business	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Prep person vs lead cook demographics

Here are the differences between prep people' and lead cooks' demographics:

	Prep Person	Lead Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 40.5% Female, 59.5%	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 7.8% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	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 prep person and lead cook duties and responsibilities

Prep person example responsibilities.

Manage the POS system (adding/deleting specials, editing prices, viewing server appetizer/dessert sales and their server report information).
Receive and put away all food orders utilizing FIFO.
Prepare and produce food using large-volume cooking equipment such as grills and deep-fat fryers.
Help with waste control and FIFO.
Promote from dishwasher to prep person with the lead over dishwashers
Cook foods by baking, roasting, frying, sauteing and grilling.

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.

Prep person vs lead cook skills

Common prep person skills

Cleanliness, 59%
Food Products, 30%
Dishwashers, 5%
Food Handling, 4%
Customer Service, 1%
Kitchen Equipment, 0%

Common lead cook skills

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

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Prep Person
Prep Person vs Lead Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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