High paying food service jobs in Kentucky

Every food service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Kentucky. Read the percentile range, not just the median: the gap between the 10th and 90th inside a single food service job is usually wider than the gap between two different ones, so where you land in a field matters more than which field you pick.

Cost of living: prices in Kentucky run 9.8% below the national average (2024), so a Kentucky salary is worth about 1.11× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order. To see where a job pays a real premium, use jobs that pay more in Kentucky.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find food service jobs in Kentucky

OccupationMedian, Kentucky · Employed

1Chefs and Head Cooks$48,070
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,550 – $88,4101,790
2First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers$35,810
High school diploma or equivalent
$28,190 – $58,98018,010
3Cooks, Restaurant$34,640
No formal educational credential
$24,750 – $43,75013,510
4Food Servers, Nonrestaurant$32,200
No formal educational credential
$25,790 – $42,0603,660
5Cooks, Short Order$31,840
No formal educational credential
$22,860 – $44,880650
6Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$31,550
No formal educational credential
$25,580 – $45,72011,540
7Waiters and Waitresses$29,660
No formal educational credential
$16,520 – $62,03027,150
8Dishwashers$29,060
No formal educational credential
$21,330 – $36,2404,890
9Bartenders$28,780
No formal educational credential
$16,110 – $63,1406,870
10Fast Food and Counter Workers$27,130
No formal educational credential
$21,590 – $34,42041,860
11Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop$27,100
No formal educational credential
$19,150 – $35,3005,120
12Food Preparation Workers$26,850
No formal educational credential
$20,900 – $37,83015,390
13Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers$26,330
No formal educational credential
$15,870 – $37,3303,350
14Cooks, Fast Food$23,500
No formal educational credential
$21,220 – $30,00021,750

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianKentucky	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Chefs and Head CooksHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,070	$31,550 – $88,410	1,790
2	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$35,810	$28,190 – $58,980	18,010
3	Cooks, RestaurantNo formal educational credential	$34,640	$24,750 – $43,750	13,510
4	Food Servers, NonrestaurantNo formal educational credential	$32,200	$25,790 – $42,060	3,660
5	Cooks, Short OrderNo formal educational credential	$31,840	$22,860 – $44,880	650
6	Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaNo formal educational credential	$31,550	$25,580 – $45,720	11,540
7	Waiters and WaitressesNo formal educational credential	$29,660	$16,520 – $62,030	27,150
8	DishwashersNo formal educational credential	$29,060	$21,330 – $36,240	4,890
9	BartendersNo formal educational credential	$28,780	$16,110 – $63,140	6,870
10	Fast Food and Counter WorkersNo formal educational credential	$27,130	$21,590 – $34,420	41,860
11	Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee ShopNo formal educational credential	$27,100	$19,150 – $35,300	5,120
12	Food Preparation WorkersNo formal educational credential	$26,850	$20,900 – $37,830	15,390
13	Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender HelpersNo formal educational credential	$26,330	$15,870 – $37,330	3,350
14	Cooks, Fast FoodNo formal educational credential	$23,500	$21,220 – $30,000	21,750

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Kentucky. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.

More for Kentucky

Metro areas in Kentucky

Pay varies more between metros than between states — the spread inside one state is often wider than the gap between two.

By field in Kentucky

Without a degree

The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Kentucky to rank honestly.

High paying food service jobs in Kentucky

More for Kentucky

Metro areas in Kentucky

By field in Kentucky

Without a degree

High paying food service jobs in each state