Salaries / Chef / Head Cook
Food Service · SOC 35-1011
Chef / Head Cook salary
Chefs and head cooks oversee kitchens, create menus, and prepare meals in restaurants and other food settings.
Median annual
$58,000
Median hourly
$27.90
Typical range
$35,000 to $92,000
Source: National estimate (to be replaced by live BLS data). Figures are gross pay and vary by location, employer, and experience.
The pay range, visually.
Low end (about the 10th percentile), median, and high end (about the 90th percentile).
By state
State figures are estimates derived from the national median and a state wage index, shown to give a rough sense of local differences.
Your skills are a business
Ideas we have for people in food service.
The same experience that earns a paycheck as a chef / head cook can start a business. Here are real ideas from our marketplace that fit this field.
Start a Catering Business
Cook for weddings, corporate events, and parties, where one booked event can be worth more than a week of restaurant covers.
Start a Personal Chef Business
Cook weekly meals in clients' homes (menus planned, groceries handled, fridge stocked with labeled meals) for busy families and professionals who are done with takeout.
Open a Coffee Shop
Run a specialty coffee shop or cafe in a high traffic spot, selling drinks with strong margins and building a daily habit customer base.
Become a Luxury Private and Fine-Dining Chef
Bring the restaurant experience into the home: multi-course fine dining, curated menus, and unforgettable dinners for affluent hosts, celebrations, and luxury events, priced per experience.
You could hire chef / head cooks, not just be one.
We have a staffing calculator to price the work and a full course on how to start a staffing agency, so you can turn a field you already know into a business that puts other people to work.