Chefs and Dinner Cooks

Chefs and dinner cooks measure, mix, and cook food.

Quick Facts: Chefs and Dinner Cooks
Wages	Earn $36,146 - $62,436 per year
Employment	Very large occupation
10 Year Growth	Much faster than average
Annual Openings	Very High

Preparation

The Preparation section describes the education, training, and experience you need to prepare for work in an occupation. This section covers the types of formal and informal training programs you should take. In addition, this topic covers the amount of experience you need to enter an occupation.

For more information see the Preparation topic.

A chef or dinner cook typically needs to:

have a high school diploma or equivalent
complete on-the-job training

Working Conditions

The Working Conditions section describes an occupation's characteristics. This section covers the conditions and settings that workers in an occupation are exposed to. This list also shows characteristics that a worker needs to do well in the occupation.

For more information see the Working Conditions topic.

In a typical work setting, chefs and dinner cooks:

Have a medium level of social contact. They work closely with kitchen staff, but also spend time alone cooking. Chefs and head cooks have the most interaction with kitchen staff.
Are often exposed to hazardous situations and conditions that produce cuts or minor burns.
Must be very exact in their work. Errors could cause safety hazards for themselves and other workers.
May work part time or full time.

Wages

Multiple SOC version:

The Wage section gives you a sense of how much money workers earn in an occupation. Annual wage data appear for most occupations. The annual amount is based on working full time for 12 months.

Two types of information are given about wages--the median wage and the wage range. The median wage is represented by the line in the bar. The median wage is the amount above which half of all workers are paid and below which half of all workers are paid. This is similar to an average. The wage range from the 25% to the 75% is represented by the bar. The 25% means that one-quarter of workers in the occupation earn less than that amount. Similarly, one-quarter of workers in the occupation earn more than the 75%. Move your cursor over the bar to see the wage values.

For more information see the Wages topic.

In Illinois, chefs and dinner cooks earn a median wage of $36,146 - $62,436 per year.

$50

$100

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Illinois

$ amounts are in thousands of dollars.

Employment and Outlook

The Employment and Outlook section gives you information about the size of an occupation, whether it is growing or declining in size, and how many job openings there may be each year.

There are five size categories for occupations in CIS: very small, small, medium, large, and very large. Similarly, five categories are used for the number of job openings: very few, few, moderate, high, and very high.

Five categories are also used for growth: declining, more slowly than average, average, faster than average, and much faster than average. The growth rate tells you how rapidly an occupation is expected to grow in comparison to all other occupations. This information is an estimate. No one can predict exactly how many jobs will be available. The rate of growth of an occupation is determined by several factors. A few major factors are the state of the economy, competition, technological advances, and environmental rules.

For more information see the Employment and Outlook topic.

In Illinois, 60,353 chefs and dinner cooks work in this very large occupation.

Location	Employment	10 Year Growth	Annual Openings
Illinois	60,353 Very large	38.6% Very fast	12,664 Very High