Highest-paying Cities for Chefs and Head Cooks

The top 100 highest paying cities for chefs and head cooks (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of chefs and head cooks in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $92,610, Muncie, Indiana is the highest paying city for chefs and head cooks. It is followed by Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii (average annual salary $88,850). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of chefs and head cooks in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Chefs and Head Cooks

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Muncie, Indiana	$92,610	$35,830	n/a
2	Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii	$88,850	$55,030	160
3	Urban Honolulu, Hawaii	$87,730	$47,900	660
4	Nantucket Island and Marthas Vineyard nonmetropolitan area, Massachusetts	$81,010	$47,370	140
5	Hawaii-Maui-Kauai nonmetropolitan area, Hawaii	$80,940	$42,870	190
6	Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, New Jersey	$80,770	$43,710	40
7	Morgantown, West Virginia	$79,370	$36,410	60
8	Barnstable Town, Massachusetts	$77,050	$48,140	240
9	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$75,730	$47,150	3,150
10	Merced, California	$75,390	$36,660	40
11	Providence-Fall River-Warwick, Rhode Island	$74,770	$41,590	760
12	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$74,720	$36,280	12,300
13	Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$73,680	$44,370	50
14	Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner, Massachusetts	$73,070	$30,660	40
15	Napa, California	$72,240	$46,120	220
16	Ocean City, New Jersey	$71,740	$44,860	120
17	Salinas, California	$71,290	$40,290	290
18	New Bedford, Massachusetts	$71,290	$39,240	100
19	Worcester, Massachusetts	$71,090	$41,600	420
20	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$71,030	$50,690	2,400
21	East Arkansas nonmetropolitan area, Arkansas	$70,740	$33,770	60
22	Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey	$69,700	$47,330	230
23	Northeastern Pennsylvania nonmetropolitan area, Pennsylvania	$69,180	$40,020	130
24	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$68,680	$38,990	360
25	Ithaca, New York	$68,320	$39,840	100
26	Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, Alabama	$68,100	$43,040	50
27	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	$67,790	$45,070	50
28	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$67,370	$43,380	6,000
29	North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$67,360	$38,920	110
30	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California	$65,670	$42,250	400
31	Nassau-Suffolk, New York	$65,410	$35,500	2,180
32	Madera-Chowchilla, California	$65,120	$43,640	40
33	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania	$64,170	$45,560	2,620
34	Syracuse, New York	$64,020	$42,860	270
35	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$63,990	$40,000	1,700
36	Vallejo-Fairfield, California	$63,510	$39,030	120
37	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$63,350	$40,110	310
38	Rochester, New York	$62,850	$41,250	530
39	Watertown-Fort Drum, New York	$62,840	$45,620	30
40	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$62,820	$37,890	390
41	The Villages, Florida	$62,690	$36,080	110
42	Santa Fe, New Mexico	$62,580	$45,760	60
43	Fresno, California	$62,550	$37,170	320
44	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York	$62,240	$36,420	620
45	Binghamton, New York	$62,150	$43,500	80
46	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$61,990	$37,720	830
47	Flagstaff, Arizona	$61,960	$36,200	70
48	Montgomery, Alabama	$61,840	$44,010	60
49	Yuba City, California	$61,800	$38,200	40
50	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$61,780	$44,600	1,350
51	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California	$61,700	$37,930	1,460
52	Northeast Florida nonmetropolitan area, Florida	$61,570	$43,400	70
53	Western Wyoming nonmetropolitan area, Wyoming	$61,550	$32,790	150
54	Fairbanks, Alaska	$61,520	$40,140	80
55	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$61,520	$34,010	2,670
56	West Central-Southwest New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$61,370	$37,160	140
57	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$61,250	$46,060	2,110
58	Portsmouth, New Hampshire	$61,090	$40,090	170
59	Newark-Union, Pennsylvania	$61,090	$45,970	820
60	Glens Falls, New York	$61,020	$46,340	80
61	Prescott, Arizona	$60,880	$36,520	70
62	West Central Pennsylvania nonmetropolitan area, Pennsylvania	$60,730	$40,290	130
63	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$60,700	$40,730	4,300
64	Western Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area, North Carolina	$60,630	$38,340	200
65	Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, New York	$60,430	$38,480	150
66	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida	$60,350	$37,600	1,410
67	Olympia, Washington	$60,340	$38,780	90
68	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$60,200	$35,360	1,490
69	Grand Junction, Colorado	$60,150	$40,490	50
70	Naples-Marco Island, Florida	$60,150	$35,660	580
71	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, California	$60,060	$37,930	210
72	Eastern Tennessee nonmetropolitan area, Tennessee	$60,030	$39,180	100
73	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tennessee	$60,030	$42,220	750
74	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida	$59,950	$37,450	380
75	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, West Virginia	$59,910	$34,040	2,280
76	Northcentral Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$59,890	$43,520	390
77	Western Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$59,870	$40,350	140
78	Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey	$59,870	$40,000	290
79	Norwich-New London, Rhode Island	$59,820	$34,070	390
80	Utica-Rome, New York	$59,780	$43,890	210
81	Southwest Missouri nonmetropolitan area, Missouri	$59,760	$31,360	80
82	Madison, Wisconsin	$59,720	$39,760	180
83	Northeastern North Carolina nonmetropolitan area, North Carolina	$59,660	$38,980	120
84	Western North Carolina nonmetropolitan area, North Carolina	$59,600	$39,100	170
85	Bellingham, Washington	$59,530	$43,340	110
86	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$59,510	$43,340	1,990
87	Elmira, New York	$59,290	$35,620	60
88	Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$59,280	$38,520	200
89	Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area, Massachusetts	$59,240	$42,220	170
90	Carson City, Nevada	$59,240	$37,510	30
91	Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$59,200	$38,520	150
92	West Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$59,140	$42,220	180
93	East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania	$59,140	$36,630	80
94	Hagerstown-Martinsburg, West Virginia	$59,130	$34,800	70
95	Peabody, Massachusetts	$59,050	$42,060	110
96	Tucson, Arizona	$58,990	$34,480	320
97	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, Washington	$58,940	$37,290	70
98	Eastern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area, Wyoming	$58,850	$22,710	80
99	Capital-Northern New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$58,840	$38,520	160
100	Colorado Springs, Colorado	$58,820	$43,380	340

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for chefs and head cooks.