Station cook vs lead cook

The differences between station 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 station cook and a lead cook. Additionally, a lead cook has an average salary of $35,964, which is higher than the $33,980 average annual salary of a station cook.

The top three skills for a station cook include culinary, cold station and food handling. The most important skills for a lead cook are customer service, food handling, and culinary.

Station cook vs lead cook overview

	Station Cook	Lead Cook
Yearly salary	$33,980	$35,964
Hourly rate	$16.34	$17.29
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	136,427	160,223
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 35%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Station cook vs lead cook salary

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

	Station Cook	Lead Cook
Average salary	$33,980	$35,964
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $42,000	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 station cook and lead cook education

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

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

Station cook vs lead cook demographics

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

	Station Cook	Lead Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9%	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%	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 station cook and lead cook duties and responsibilities

Station cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Filter and boil out fryers.
Share responsibilities with culinary supervisors on weekly food orders and assist in completing restaurant temperature charts nightly.
Maintain and follow proper hygiene and sanitation standards.

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.

Station cook vs lead cook skills

Common station cook skills

Culinary, 53%
Cold Station, 16%
Food Handling, 8%
Kitchen Equipment, 6%
Fine Dining, 3%
Slicers, 2%

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
Station Cook
Station Cook vs Lead Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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