Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019

35-2021 Food Preparation Workers

Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.

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)
863,740	1.3 %	$12.41	$25,820	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$8.76	$10.00	$11.92	$14.26	$17.07
Annual Wage (2)	$18,220	$20,800	$24,800	$29,650	$35,500

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	439,240	4.06	$11.86	$24,660
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	189,980	6.53	$12.72	$26,470
Special Food Services	52,200	7.11	$13.06	$27,160
Elementary and Secondary Schools	25,600	0.30	$14.65	$30,470
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)	16,950	1.06	$11.74	$24,410

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Special Food Services	52,200	7.11	$13.06	$27,160
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	189,980	6.53	$12.72	$26,470
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	439,240	4.06	$11.86	$24,660
Vending Machine Operators	1,360	3.40	$11.95	$24,850
Rooming and Boarding Houses	320	2.73	$12.78	$26,570

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	2,970	0.10	$16.02	$33,320
Educational Support Services	50	0.03	$15.88	$33,020
Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing	30	0.04	$15.70	$32,650
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	13,250	0.24	$15.04	$31,280
Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations	140	0.03	$14.98	$31,160

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	109,410	6.29	1.07	$13.95	$29,010
Florida	65,620	7.46	1.27	$12.07	$25,100
New York	59,850	6.28	1.07	$14.64	$30,460
Texas	59,330	4.77	0.81	$11.86	$24,670
New Jersey	37,100	9.08	1.54	$12.28	$25,550

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)
Louisiana	36,620	19.06	3.24	$9.18	$19,080
Hawaii	9,290	14.62	2.49	$14.65	$30,470
Maine	8,360	13.68	2.33	$13.30	$27,660
Alaska	3,840	12.11	2.06	$14.88	$30,940
Tennessee	35,940	11.95	2.03	$10.09	$20,990

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	3,780	5.22	0.89	$16.17	$33,620
Washington	15,820	4.77	0.81	$15.47	$32,180
Massachusetts	16,370	4.52	0.77	$15.11	$31,440
Alaska	3,840	12.11	2.06	$14.88	$30,940
Rhode Island	3,450	7.14	1.21	$14.72	$30,610

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	72,160	7.47	1.27	$14.13	$29,390
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	42,140	6.75	1.15	$13.37	$27,810
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	26,200	5.60	0.95	$13.09	$27,230
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	21,390	7.80	1.33	$11.03	$22,950
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	20,950	7.93	1.35	$12.26	$25,500
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	16,040	5.05	0.86	$13.43	$27,920
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	15,870	5.20	0.88	$11.94	$24,830
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	14,640	5.92	1.01	$15.30	$31,820
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	13,800	13.81	2.35	$10.70	$22,260
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	12,700	4.41	0.75	$11.96	$24,880