Cooks, All Other
SOC 35-2019 · 2024-2034
All cooks not listed separately.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $43,946per year
- Projected openings
- 6,420
- Projected change
- +10.3%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $45,740 | 840 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $44,490 | 60 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $42,783 | 730 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $42,197 | 70 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $39,060 | 210 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $38,021 | 550 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $37,846 | 690 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $37,817 | 2,170 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $36,232 | 120 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | Not reported | 60 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $37,978
- A quarter earn under
- $39,321
- Half earn under
- $43,946
- Three quarters earn under
- $47,196
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $52,230
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Related work
Occupations in the same family as this one, ordered by projected openings. Related by how the job classification groups them, not by a claim that the skills transfer.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $43,351 | 1,105,280 | +9.9% |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $36,994 | 469,390 | +2.8% |
| Cooks, Restaurant | $46,017 | 271,050 | +18.5% |
| First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | $48,170 | 209,550 | +10.2% |
| Food Preparation Workers | $40,347 | 195,850 | +1% |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $43,115 | 159,630 | -10.3% |
Programs that train for this job — 8
Food Service & Hospitality
Baldwin Park Adult and Community Education · Baldwin Park · $4,944
Culinary Skills Training
Self Help for the Elderly · San Francisco · $4,300
Culinary Arts Preparation Training
Cerritos College · Norwalk · $4,100
Introductory Basic Culinary Skills Certificate
Napa Valley College · Napa · $617
General Cooking Occupations
Central Valley Opportunity Center · Winton · $5,838
Culinary Specialist
Los Angeles Mission College · Sylmar · $3,567
CULN: Hospitality Studies- Baking and Pastry - Associate in Science degree
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $5,377
CULN: Baking and Pastry Certificate of Achievement
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $3,630