Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
SOC 35-2012 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
State-level comparison: Pennsylvania ($36,540), Delaware ($44,080), Maryland ($41,380) and New Jersey ($44,520). Metro estimates cover the whole labor market, including portions that cross state lines.
After local prices: the $38,870 median has purchasing power comparable to about $37,902 nationally. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD's BEA regional price parity is 102.6 (2024).
What the local range looks like
The wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the darker section is the middle half, and the tick is the median for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- No formal educational credential
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Compare other metro areas
Every linked area below has a published estimate for cooks, institution and cafeteria. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $46,870 | 112.6 | 15,270 | 0.57× |
| 2 | Vineland, NJ | $45,510 | 96.0 | 110 | 0.62× |
| 3 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $44,880 | 108.9 | 5,670 | 0.64× |
| 4 | Salisbury, MD | $44,430 | 95.6 | 100 | 0.65× |
| 5 | Trenton-Princeton, NJ | $42,960 | 103.2 | 460 | 0.68× |
| 6 | Dover, DE | $41,370 | 97.5 | 520 | 2.70× |
| 7 | Lexington Park, MD | $40,420 | 100.8 | 70 | 0.37× |
| 8 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | $40,240 | 98.9 | 320 | 0.67× |
| 9 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $39,310 | 104.5 | 1,660 | 0.43× |
| 10 | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | $38,570 | 100.0 | 1,750 | 1.63× |
| 11 | State College, PA | $37,100 | 96.8 | 260 | 1.31× |
| 12 | Lancaster, PA | $37,040 | 98.3 | 1,020 | 1.42× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where cooks, institution and cafeteria wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
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