Food Preparation Workers salary

SOC 35-2021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$35,320

per year, nationally

Middle half

$29,950–$38,550

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

893,600

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-3.4%

148,000 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$25,810$45,340

10th: $25,810
25th: $29,950
Median: $35,320
75th: $38,550
90th: $45,340

Getting in

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

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where food preparation workers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

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

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Washington	$40,910	107.0	19,510	0.96×
2	District of Columbia	$39,600	109.9	3,970	0.98×
3	California	$39,350	110.7	112,750	1.08×
4	Colorado	$38,960	103.1	12,080	0.73×
5	Massachusetts	$38,900	105.8	13,620	0.65×
6	Hawaii	$38,160	110.0	5,950	1.65×
7	Oregon	$37,450	103.4	11,860	1.05×
8	North Dakota	$36,800	89.0	980	0.40×
9	New Hampshire	$36,780	104.2	3,420	0.87×
10	Arizona	$36,750	100.7	16,590	0.89×
11	Connecticut	$36,650	103.6	12,250	1.26×
12	Vermont	$36,550	98.0	1,350	0.77×
13	Wyoming	$36,110	92.7	1,620	1.00×
14	Maine	$36,030	97.0	4,560	1.24×
15	Delaware	$35,930	99.8	2,400	0.86×
16	Florida	$35,920	103.4	73,100	1.28×
17	Alaska	$35,720	102.4	2,800	1.50×
18	New York	$35,610	107.9	62,380	1.12×
19	New Jersey	$35,540	108.8	24,730	1.00×
20	Maryland	$35,500	105.0	13,280	0.84×
21	Rhode Island	$35,470	102.3	2,830	0.98×
22	Georgia	$35,250	96.3	26,450	0.94×
23	Nebraska	$35,210	90.1	6,890	1.17×
24	Virginia	$34,900	101.1	16,340	0.69×
25	Minnesota	$34,850	98.6	24,620	1.45×
26	Illinois	$34,850	100.0	34,820	0.99×
27	Ohio	$34,530	92.8	19,480	0.61×
28	Wisconsin	$34,070	94.1	17,990	1.06×
29	Montana	$33,860	94.6	2,990	1.02×
30	Utah	$33,540	98.9	10,530	1.06×
31	Nevada	$33,460	100.0	11,420	1.28×
32	New Mexico	$33,370	92.2	6,850	1.37×
33	South Carolina	$32,180	93.7	14,460	1.09×
34	Missouri	$31,510	90.8	13,650	0.81×
35	Idaho	$31,510	95.5	4,670	0.95×
36	Michigan	$31,180	96.2	17,380	0.69×
37	Pennsylvania	$30,840	97.6	17,940	0.51×
38	Texas	$30,650	97.1	81,280	1.01×
39	South Dakota	$30,430	88.6	3,270	1.24×
40	Iowa	$30,360	87.8	4,170	0.47×
41	Kansas	$30,280	90.1	7,680	0.93×
42	North Carolina	$30,260	94.3	24,960	0.88×
43	Indiana	$29,700	93.3	16,200	0.88×
44	Tennessee	$28,700	91.9	19,780	1.05×
45	Oklahoma	$28,540	87.8	7,430	0.76×
46	West Virginia	$28,360	89.5	2,960	0.73×
47	Alabama	$27,930	88.8	17,680	1.46×
48	Arkansas	$27,660	86.9	5,500	0.73×
49	Kentucky	$26,850	90.2	15,390	1.34×
50	Mississippi	$26,240	87.0	7,870	1.18×
51	Louisiana	$23,620	88.2	30,920	2.78×

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. States where food preparation workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for food preparation workers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

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

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$46,680	109.4	720	1.70×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$45,580	110.4	5,930	0.91×
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$43,830	111.1	11,060	0.92×
4	Napa, CA	$42,810	112.6	620	1.39×
5	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$42,640	107.8	1,410	1.19×
6	Yakima, WA	$41,750	95.5	600	1.07×
7	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$41,000	115.6	14,470	1.06×
8	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$40,140	100.2	510	1.35×
9	Walla Walla, WA	$40,030	98.5	210	1.42×
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$39,770	113.6	44,930	1.25×
11	Boulder, CO	$39,690	105.2	650	0.59×
12	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$39,660	108.3	9,630	0.62×
13	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$39,470	105.8	6,640	0.72×
14	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$39,400	105.6	580	1.08×
15	Greeley, CO	$39,150	100.2	530	0.77×
16	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$39,110	109.9	830	1.46×
17	Merced, CA	$38,980	98.3	460	1.02×
18	Vallejo, CA	$38,840	108.5	930	1.12×
19	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$38,780	111.9	9,360	1.06×
20	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$38,730	105.4	6,870	0.99×
21	Barnstable Town, MA	$38,660	98.4	670	1.24×
22	El Centro, CA	$38,610	95.2	320	0.86×
23	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$38,550	108.6	900	1.28×
24	Salinas, CA	$38,480	109.0	1,180	1.10×
25	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$38,480	106.7	5,510	0.89×
26	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$38,470	108.8	1,490	1.29×
27	Longview-Kelso, WA	$38,460	97.5	260	1.11×
28	Modesto, CA	$38,450	104.1	1,170	1.04×
29	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$38,420	106.4	11,190	1.13×
30	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$38,390	100.1	810	1.09×
31	Bozeman, MT	$38,260	102.5	480	1.16×
32	Bellingham, WA	$38,240	103.3	630	1.21×
33	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$38,190	103.2	1,610	1.61×
34	Bend, OR	$38,010	103.6	760	1.22×
35	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$37,950	103.7	680	0.90×
36	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$37,820	106.9	3,300	1.42×
37	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$37,740	102.4	280	0.93×
38	Yuba City, CA	$37,740	104.2	320	1.08×
39	Fresno, CA	$37,730	102.2	2,090	0.76×
40	Flagstaff, AZ	$37,710	100.3	570	1.50×

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 food preparation workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.