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Cooks, All Other salary in California

SOC 35-2019 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median
$42,860
per year in California
Middle half
$38,350–$46,030
25th to 75th percentile
Employed
3,990
in California
Concentration
1.76×
share of workforce vs. U.S.

How local pay compares

California
$42,860
published median
United States
$37,690
13.7% above the national median
Rank among states and DC
11th
33 with a published estimate

After local prices: the $42,860 median has purchasing power comparable to about $38,710 nationally. California's BEA regional price parity is 110.7 (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 California.

$37,040$50,940

Getting in

Typical education to enter
No formal educational credential
Related work experience
None
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Narrow to a metro in California

Every linked area below has a published estimate for cooks, all other. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#Metro areaMedianCost of livingEmployedConcentrationvs. national
1Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA$47,840107.81807.03×
2San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$44,740110.4
3San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA$43,680108.6503.31×
4San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$42,860115.61,1203.79×
5Salinas, CA$39,640109.0702.96×
6Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA$38,980106.71901.42×
7San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$38,870111.92901.52×
8Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA$38,850113.61,0401.33×
9Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA$37,040106.4

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, all other wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

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