Bakers salary

SOC 51-3011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$37,160

per year, nationally

Middle half

$32,660–$44,360

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

236,200

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+5.6%

39,900 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.

$28,120$49,020

10th: $28,120
25th: $32,660
Median: $37,160
75th: $44,360
90th: $49,020

Getting in

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

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

Where bakers 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	Hawaii	$46,710	110.0	1,580	1.65×
2	Washington	$46,140	107.0	6,270	1.16×
3	District of Columbia	$44,040	109.9	1,270	1.19×
4	California	$43,120	110.7	30,020	1.08×
5	Colorado	$40,650	103.1	4,680	1.07×
6	Minnesota	$40,210	98.6	2,660	0.59×
7	Wyoming	$40,000	92.7	240	0.57×
8	Vermont	$39,980	98.0	580	1.26×
9	Alaska	$39,710	102.4	430	0.88×
10	Nevada	$39,540	100.0	2,040	0.87×
11	New Hampshire	$39,500	104.2	880	0.85×
12	Oregon	$39,500	103.4	4,160	1.39×
13	New York	$38,660	107.9	15,130	1.03×
14	South Dakota	$38,340	88.6	330	0.47×
15	Rhode Island	$38,140	102.3	560	0.74×
16	Massachusetts	$38,130	105.8	6,070	1.10×
17	Arizona	$37,700	100.7	4,000	0.81×
18	Maine	$37,390	97.0	1,380	1.42×
19	Wisconsin	$37,310	94.1	4,930	1.10×
20	Iowa	$37,210	87.8	2,150	0.91×
21	Montana	$37,200	94.6	990	1.28×
22	Maryland	$37,040	105.0	2,740	0.65×
23	Illinois	$37,030	100.0	12,420	1.34×
24	New Jersey	$36,960	108.8	8,110	1.25×
25	North Dakota	$36,900	89.0	830	1.27×
26	Delaware	$36,730	99.8	290	0.39×
27	Utah	$36,670	98.9	3,190	1.21×
28	Connecticut	$36,460	103.6	3,670	1.43×
29	Pennsylvania	$36,360	97.6	10,380	1.13×
30	Indiana	$36,150	93.3	3,600	0.74×
31	Florida	$35,870	103.4	12,320	0.82×
32	Michigan	$35,830	96.2	7,290	1.09×
33	South Carolina	$35,460	93.7	2,940	0.84×
34	Nebraska	$35,280	90.1	1,030	0.66×
35	Missouri	$35,130	90.8	4,190	0.94×
36	Georgia	$35,010	96.3	7,350	0.99×
37	New Mexico	$34,850	92.2	1,540	1.16×
38	Ohio	$34,560	92.8	8,890	1.05×
39	North Carolina	$34,510	94.3	9,320	1.24×
40	Tennessee	$34,440	91.9	5,200	1.04×
41	Virginia	$34,430	101.1	7,820	1.25×
42	Kansas	$34,300	90.1	1,370	0.63×
43	Idaho	$34,060	95.5	2,230	1.71×
44	Alabama	$34,030	88.8	1,880	0.59×
45	Kentucky	$33,890	90.2	1,630	0.54×
46	Texas	$33,790	97.1	16,710	0.78×
47	Oklahoma	$31,460	87.8	1,980	0.76×
48	Arkansas	$30,380	86.9	2,400	1.21×
49	Mississippi	$28,920	87.0	1,300	0.73×
50	West Virginia	$28,480	89.5	750	0.71×
51	Louisiana	$28,020	88.2	2,450	0.83×

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 bakers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for bakers

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	Chambersburg, PA	$48,640	94.6	200	2.16×
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$48,180	111.1	3,560	1.12×
3	Urban Honolulu, HI	$47,150	111.0	1,090	1.61×
4	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$47,020	109.4	190	1.74×
5	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$46,960	103.7	180	0.91×
6	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$46,600	115.6	4,820	1.34×
7	Napa, CA	$46,360	112.6	170	1.41×
8	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$45,480	110.4	1,240	0.72×
9	Bellingham, WA	$45,210	103.3	240	1.73×
10	Vallejo, CA	$44,970	108.5	300	1.36×
11	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$44,650	107.8	560	1.79×
12	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$44,220	102.4	110	1.43×
13	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$43,850	105.6	140	0.95×
14	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$43,760	105.1	490	1.11×
15	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$43,630	108.8	400	1.31×
16	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$43,440	105.4	2,520	1.37×
17	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$43,090	100.9	240	1.30×
18	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$43,080	111.9	2,200	0.94×
19	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$42,920	109.9	310	2.08×
20	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$42,910	106.7	1,520	0.93×
21	Merced, CA	$42,900	98.3	110	0.90×
22	Albany, OR	$42,810	102.1	60	0.89×
23	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$42,770	100.3	490	1.26×
24	Tuscaloosa, AL	$42,580	87.7	120	0.76×
25	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$42,490	105.8	2,600	1.06×
26	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$42,470	100.9	640	1.25×
27	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$42,270	104.8	1,900	0.64×
28	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$42,180	108.6	350	1.90×
29	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$41,790	106.4	2,900	1.11×
30	Bozeman, MT	$41,600	102.5	170	1.53×
31	Longview-Kelso, WA	$41,510	97.5	60	0.91×
32	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$41,380	110.5	720	1.46×
33	Salinas, CA	$41,310	109.0	410	1.46×
34	Dubuque, IA	$41,160	87.3	110	1.25×
35	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$40,960	100.1	220	1.12×
36	Chattanooga, TN-GA	$40,880	91.5	790	1.94×
37	Boulder, CO	$40,660	105.2	380	1.31×
38	El Centro, CA	$40,580	95.2	60	0.59×
39	St. Cloud, MN	$40,280	87.6	180	1.16×
40	Medford, OR	$40,280	101.4	220	1.65×

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 bakers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Food Batchmakers$42,290
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers$38,300
Butchers and Meat Cutters$40,140
Slaughterers and Meat Packers$40,130
Food Processing Workers, All Other$39,680
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders$41,590
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders$44,810