Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2018

35-2014 Cooks, Restaurant

Prepare, season, and cook dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, or desserts in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
Geographic profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
1,340,810	0.7 %	$13.26	$27,580	0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$9.33	$10.80	$12.76	$15.02	$18.09
Annual Wage (2)	$19,420	$22,460	$26,530	$31,240	$37,630

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	1,137,590	10.64	$13.06	$27,170
Traveler Accommodation	80,440	4.02	$15.37	$31,960
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	28,120	7.18	$12.65	$26,320
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries	25,920	1.98	$14.22	$29,570
Special Food Services	22,580	3.15	$14.49	$30,130

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	1,137,590	10.64	$13.06	$27,170
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	28,120	7.18	$12.65	$26,320
Traveler Accommodation	80,440	4.02	$15.37	$31,960
Special Food Services	22,580	3.15	$14.49	$30,130
Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water	430	2.67	$16.71	$34,750

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services	80	0.04	$17.27	$35,930
Technical and Trade Schools	(8)	(8)	$16.95	$35,250
Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water	430	2.67	$16.71	$34,750
Personal Care Services	60	0.01	$15.41	$32,060
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	230	0.14	$15.41	$32,050

Geographic profile for this occupation: Top

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	166,420	9.78	1.06	$14.72	$30,620
Florida	110,600	12.85	1.39	$13.34	$27,740
Texas	110,440	9.12	0.98	$12.21	$25,400
New York	73,340	7.81	0.84	$14.64	$30,440
Pennsylvania	55,980	9.57	1.03	$12.74	$26,510

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Hawaii	10,660	16.61	1.79	$16.51	$34,330
Nevada	22,330	16.57	1.79	$15.37	$31,960
Florida	110,600	12.85	1.39	$13.34	$27,740
Colorado	32,910	12.56	1.36	$14.18	$29,490
Montana	5,690	12.28	1.33	$12.13	$25,230

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Hawaii	10,660	16.61	1.79	$16.51	$34,330
District of Columbia	7,230	10.15	1.10	$16.27	$33,840
New Jersey	20,720	5.12	0.55	$15.96	$33,200
Massachusetts	29,880	8.37	0.90	$15.59	$32,430
Washington	32,510	9.97	1.08	$15.56	$32,370

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in this occupation:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	64,130	6.75	0.73	$15.34	$31,910
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	61,160	10.00	1.08	$14.17	$29,480
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	37,530	8.08	0.87	$13.59	$28,260
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	32,600	9.14	0.99	$12.32	$25,630
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	32,110	12.40	1.34	$13.97	$29,060
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	27,300	9.15	0.99	$12.65	$26,310
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	26,570	10.98	1.19	$16.93	$35,210
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	26,450	8.44	0.91	$14.34	$29,820
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	24,210	9.02	0.97	$11.98	$24,920
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	23,580	8.55	0.92	$15.72	$32,700