Salary Information for Culinary Arts Careers

Find salary data for culinary arts careers.

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Salaries in Culinary Arts Careers

Salaries for chefs or head cooks vary widely, depending on a variety of factors. Your work environment is one of them. Fine dining restaurants usually pay some of the highest wages. Other high-paying employers include hotels, resorts and individuals who hire private chefs. Institutional cafeterias, casual or fast food restaurants, and cruise ships tend to be among the lowest paying employers.

Aside from your work environment, your education level, previous work experience and geographic location will also determine your earning potential in culinary arts careers.

Culinary Graduate Salaries

Your degree or diploma will certainly give you an advantage over those who haven't attended culinary school. Across all fields, bachelor's degree holders earn almost twice as much as those with only a high school diploma, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Average Pay Ranges

The table below shows the average annual earnings of the middle 50 percent of employees in culinary arts careers.*

Culinary Job Title	Annual Earnings of Middle 50%
Cooking Assistant	$23,452 - 29,460
Executive Chef	$57,982 - 88,386
Executive Pastry Chef	$47,249 - 70,794
Food Scientist	$49,408 - 75,111
Hotel Manager	$67,283 - 123,432
Line Cook	$19,957 - 26,118
Restaurant Manager	$38,128 - 55,891
Sous Chef	$33,127 - 51,530

* HR Data as reported by Salary.com in June, 2009.

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