How much do restaurant cooks make an hour?

Restaurant cooks in the United States are paid a median of $17.98 an hour as of May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half earn more and half earn less.

What is the average salary for restaurant cooks?

The median annual pay for restaurant cooks is $37,390 (May 2025). That is the median rather than the average: the pay of the person in the middle, working full time all year.

What do the highest-paid restaurant cooks make?

The best-paid quarter of restaurant cooks earn more than $21.45 an hour. The lowest-paid quarter earn less than $16.35.

How does pay for restaurant cooks compare with other jobs?

Median hourly pay for restaurant cooks is −26.6% against the median for all occupations, which is $24.51 an hour.

How many restaurant cooks are there in the United States?

About 1,409,890 people were employed as restaurant cooks as of May 2025. The count covers employees and leaves out people who work for themselves.

Typical Pay for Restaurant Cooks

On this page

The answer
What most are paid
Compared with other jobs
What this figure is
Common questions
Source

Restaurant Cooks in the United States are typically paid $17.98 an hour, or $37,390 a year. Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure is for May 2025, the latest published.

This is what restaurant cooks are paid, not what a customer is charged. A bill for their work also covers materials, travel, insurance and the business's other costs.

Median hourly pay

$17.98

an hour, May 2025

Median annual pay

$37,390

a year, working full time all year

Against all occupations

−26.6%

BelowAll jobs $24.51

What most restaurant cooks are paid

The middle half of restaurant cooks earn between these two figures. A quarter earn less than the lower one and a quarter earn more than the higher one.

Lower quarter ends at

$16.35an hour

Median

$17.98an hour

Upper quarter starts at

$21.45an hour

About 1,409,890 people work in this occupation nationwide.

Where restaurant cooks sit among other jobs

Each tick is the median hourly pay of one of the 39 occupations tracked on this site. Restaurant Cooks are the 33rd highest paid of them.

What this figure is

It comes from a survey of employers by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which classes this work as “Cooks, Restaurant” (code 35-2014). It counts wages and salaries paid to employees. People who work for themselves are not included, and neither are tips reported separately, overtime premiums or benefits.

The figure is national. Pay varies a great deal from one area and one employer to another, so an offer or a wage where you live can sit well above or below it.

Common questions

How much do restaurant cooks make an hour?: Restaurant cooks in the United States are paid a median of $17.98 an hour as of May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half earn more and half earn less.
What is the average salary for restaurant cooks?: The median annual pay for restaurant cooks is $37,390 (May 2025). That is the median rather than the average: the pay of the person in the middle, working full time all year.
What do the highest-paid restaurant cooks make?: The best-paid quarter of restaurant cooks earn more than $21.45 an hour. The lowest-paid quarter earn less than $16.35.
How does pay for restaurant cooks compare with other jobs?: Median hourly pay for restaurant cooks is −26.6% against the median for all occupations, which is $24.51 an hour.
How many restaurant cooks are there in the United States?: About 1,409,890 people were employed as restaurant cooks as of May 2025. The count covers employees and leaves out people who work for themselves.

Source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

National estimates for May 2025. Retrieved on October 6, 2026.

About the wage survey

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, retrieved through the BLS Public Data API. BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.

Pay in other occupations

Median hourly pay. The percentage compares each with all occupations.