Cooks, Restaurant salary in Iowa
SOC 35-2014 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
After local prices: the $35,670 median has purchasing power comparable to about $40,644 nationally. Iowa's BEA regional price parity is 87.8 (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 Iowa.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- No formal educational credential
- Related work experience
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Narrow to a metro in Iowa
Every linked area below has a published estimate for cooks, restaurant. 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 | Omaha, NE-IA | $37,840 | 91.9 | 2,850 | 0.63× |
| 2 | Ames, IA | $36,410 | 88.8 | 570 | 1.13× |
| 3 | Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | $36,270 | 86.5 | 560 | 0.83× |
| 4 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $36,070 | 91.7 | 3,320 | 0.91× |
| 5 | Iowa City, IA | $35,910 | 91.5 | 1,060 | 1.25× |
| 6 | Cedar Rapids, IA | $35,720 | 89.0 | 1,110 | 0.88× |
| 7 | Dubuque, IA | $35,610 | 87.3 | 440 | 0.83× |
| 8 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | $35,480 | 89.1 | 1,560 | 0.95× |
| 9 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | $35,420 | 87.1 | 670 | 0.88× |
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, restaurant wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
Ready to look for an opening?
SalaryRow explains the local pay; Google collects current openings from job boards. Your search includes both this occupation and this location.