Chef salary
What a chef actually earns, from 911 live job postings blended with the official US OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage anchor. Pick a market for its median and range, then read the seniority split, the trend, and the country comparison below. Updated 2026-09-06.
Switch the market above to see chef pay in the 5 countries our sources cover, each with its own cost of living. The trend, seniority, and state detail below are United States data, where the official record runs deepest.
What the number means
A chef earns a blended US median near 64,916 dollars, with the typical middle running from 53,336 dollars to 79,492 dollars. The official OEWS median is 60,990 dollars, under the posted figure, because the advertised roles skew senior or well-funded. The official trend has moved up about 18 percent since 2019. Demand is rated high, and 0% of postings are fully remote. The nearest adjacent move on our skill graph is cook, at 63 percent coverage; the instrument maps the rest.
Open chef roles
Live openings tagged to this occupation, from company career pages and remote boards. Apply at the source.
Responsable de restaurant / Chef de cuisine - 100% - Pôle Entreprise at Eldora SACheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Vaud, SwitzerlandTodayApply- Chef cuisinier at Meiying SàrlMarin-Epagnier, Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandTodayApply
Jr. Sous Chef (Sushi) at SpaceXBrownsville, TX1d agoApply- Sous-Chef, stv. Küchenchef at DeFa Gastro AGWinterthur, Zürich, Switzerland2d agoApply
- Vorsteherin oder Vorsteher Amt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Militär / Chefin oder Chef des Kantonalen Führungsstabs at Amt für Bevölkerungsschutz und MilitärAltdorf UR, Uri, Switzerland2d agoApply
- Chef de cuisine at JobupLausanne, Vaud, Switzerland2d agoApply
By country
- United States$53,336$64,916$79,492
- United Kingdom$39,021$43,987$51,965
- Canada$37,533$46,064$55,828
- Australia$57,340$57,340$59,132
- Netherlands$41,407$46,098$50,051
Switzerland · official wage bands
median CHF 7'078/month
Swiss postings do not state pay, so these are not posted salaries: they are the federal wage survey (Lohnstrukturerhebung 2024) for the ISCO group 34 Juristische, soziale, kulturelle und verwandte Fachkräfte: standardized gross monthly, full-time, 13th salary included pro rata. The band covers the whole occupation group, which is coarser than this occupation alone.
Annual ≈ CHF 84'936 at the median. Source: Bundesamt für Statistik, LSE 2024.
Top-paying US states
OEWS median by state, highest first.
- Massachusetts$71,330
- Washington$69,800
- California$66,780
- Delaware$65,290
- New York$64,300
- Colorado$63,990
Roles that pay more, that these skills already reach
Median pay from each destination’s own postings, with the readiness a chef profile already covers.
- 5 open flight attendant roles$70,633 median · +$5,717 · 20% readiness
- 48 open hotel manager roles$69,082 median · +$4,166 · 15% readiness
Is your offer fair?
Run a specific number through FairElephant, which weighs it against this data, your location, and remote market rates.
Related salaries
- Cook salary$40,948 median
- Sommelier salary$49,838 median
- Hotel Manager salary$69,082 median
Quick answers
How much does a chef make?
The blended US median is about 64,916 dollars, with a typical range from 53,336 dollars to 79,492 dollars, against an official OEWS median of 60,990 dollars.
Is chef a good career in 2026?
Demand for the role is rated high in our July 2026 corpus, with 0% of postings fully remote. The pay is shown above by seniority and by country.
What can a chef move into?
The nearest adjacent role on our skill graph is cook, at 63 percent skill coverage. Run the instrument for the full set of reachable moves.
Method: bands are the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of live US postings with stated pay, shrunk toward the official OEWS anchor by sample size (the “blended” figure). Trend is the OEWS annual median for SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code 35-1011. Live corpus 911 observations, 2026-09-06. Definitions in the glossary.