Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
SOC 51-3093 · 2024-2034
Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $45,761per year
- Projected openings
- 3,190
- Projected change
- 0%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $47,739 | 60 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $47,739 | 270 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $47,636 | 190 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $46,921 | 270 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $46,364 | 140 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $44,332 | 120 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $42,933 | 340 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $40,003 | 80 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $37,007 | 540 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | Not reported | 130 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $36,586
- A quarter earn under
- $38,652
- Half earn under
- $45,761
- Three quarters earn under
- $49,177
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $54,557
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.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Batchmakers | $42,621 | 17,970 | +7.9% |
| Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders | $46,641 | 2,090 | 0% |
| Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | $54,117 | 14,400 | -4.8% |
| Bakers | $44,104 | 52,930 | +8.8% |
| Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders | $46,180 | 2,970 | +3.8% |
| Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | $51,796 | 4,990 | -8.5% |