Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019

35-2011 Cooks, Fast Food

Prepare and cook food in a fast food restaurant with a limited menu. Duties of these cooks are limited to preparation of a few basic items and normally involve operating large-volume single-purpose cooking equipment.

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)
527,220	2.0 %	$11.31	$23,530	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$8.43	$9.35	$11.30	$12.70	$14.66
Annual Wage (2)	$17,540	$19,450	$23,510	$26,410	$30,490

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	509,540	4.71	$11.30	$23,500
Gasoline Stations	3,700	0.40	$10.51	$21,850
Special Food Services	1,930	0.26	$12.59	$26,190
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries	1,640	0.12	$12.43	$25,860
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	1,080	0.27	$10.93	$22,740

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	509,540	4.71	$11.30	$23,500
Gasoline Stations	3,700	0.40	$10.51	$21,850
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	1,080	0.27	$10.93	$22,740
Amusement Parks and Arcades	600	0.27	$11.47	$23,860
Special Food Services	1,930	0.26	$12.59	$26,190

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
General Merchandise Stores	130	(7)	$15.26	$31,750
Gambling Industries	290	0.13	$15.19	$31,600
Traveler Accommodation	760	0.04	$14.66	$30,490
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	80	(7)	$13.50	$28,080
Elementary and Secondary Schools	70	(7)	$12.76	$26,540

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	120,240	6.92	1.93	$12.86	$26,740
Texas	38,680	3.11	0.87	$10.53	$21,900
North Carolina	22,720	5.09	1.42	$9.83	$20,450
Arizona	20,370	7.10	1.98	$11.86	$24,670
Florida	20,150	2.29	0.64	$10.66	$22,170

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)
Mississippi	14,240	12.63	3.52	$8.85	$18,420
Idaho	6,500	8.94	2.49	$9.90	$20,590
Oklahoma	12,910	7.98	2.22	$9.71	$20,190
Nevada	10,700	7.68	2.14	$10.61	$22,060
Arizona	20,370	7.10	1.98	$11.86	$24,670

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Washington	9,410	2.83	0.79	$14.88	$30,940
Massachusetts	5,880	1.63	0.45	$14.08	$29,280
District of Columbia	2,970	4.11	1.14	$14.01	$29,140
Oregon	3,780	1.98	0.55	$13.77	$28,630
Connecticut	6,290	3.78	1.05	$13.71	$28,510

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)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	45,360	7.27	2.03	$12.94	$26,920
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	15,140	9.84	2.74	$12.59	$26,190
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	13,720	6.47	1.80	$11.85	$24,650
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	12,190	2.61	0.73	$10.68	$22,220
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	12,120	1.26	0.35	$12.89	$26,820
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	11,740	3.69	1.03	$12.18	$25,340
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	11,440	4.63	1.29	$13.01	$27,060
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	11,040	3.02	0.84	$10.49	$21,830
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	10,230	3.35	0.93	$10.91	$22,700
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV	9,400	9.21	2.57	$10.64	$22,130