Chef Demographics and Statistics in the US – 2024 

We’ve created a comprehensive list of Chef statistics and interesting facts about Chefs in the United States. See average Chef age, educational attainment, salaries and more. 

1. The average annual salary for Chefs working in the United States is $62,640

2. 63.4% of all Chefs are male

3. The third most common ethnicity among Chefs is Asian at 11.4%

4. About 22,000 openings for Chefs are projected each year over the next decade

5. 27% of all Chefs have a bachelor’s degree

6. The industry with the highest concentration of employment in Chefs is Special Food Services, where 2.64% of the workforce are Chefs

7. Most Chefs who can speak a second language(48.5%) speak Spanish 

Chef Employment

There are currently 172,370 Chefs working in the United States. 

The growth rate for this position is 5%, which is a better outlook than the national average for most professions. 

You can see how the job outlook for Chefs in the U.S. has changed over the past couple of years in the graph above. 

Chef Gender Statistics 

Most Chefs working in the United States (63.4%) are men, while 36.6% of all Chefs are women. 

Chef Age Statistics 

Most Chefs (56%) are older than 40 years old. Individuals between 30 and 40 make up 28% of all Chefs, while the remaining percentage (14%) are young Chefs under 30 years old. 

As you can tell, this is a job that requires a good deal of experience, unlike the Waiter/Waitress role, which is mainly occupied by young people under 30 years old. 

Chef Employment Type Statistics 

Out of all the Chefs in the U.S., 79% work full-time, while 21% work on a part-time basis. 

Chef Ethnicity and Race Statistics 

The Majority of Chefs are White (55%), followed by Hispanic or Latino at 17.1%.  

See the breakdown of Chefs by race and ethnicity in the graph below:  

Chef Education Statistics 

When it comes to educational attainments for the Chef role, most (38%) have an associate’s degree. 

That said, a significant number of Chefs (27%) have a bachelor’s degree, while 21% of all Chefs working in a Restaurant have a high school diploma or equivalent. 

While a vast percentage of Chefs have some form of education, it is definitely possible to become a Chef without culinary education. 

You can see the complete breakdown of Chef education levels in the graph below:  

Chef Tenure Statistics 

Tenure refers to how long a particular Chef stays in their role without switching careers or moving to a better-paying job.  

Most Chefs (36%) stay at the same job for between one and two years, followed by 28% of Chefs who stay at the same job for less than a year.  

Explore the breakdown of Chef tenure statistics below: 

Chef Jobs by Industry

Chefs can work in a restaurant, bar, hotel, resort and other eating establishments. 

This means that Chefs work in a wide range of industries. 

The ones that employ the most Chefs are: 

Chef Jobs by Industry Size 

Most Chefs work in restaurants and similar eating places. However, the size of the companies for which Chefs work for can greatly vary. 

Most Chefs (30%) work for companies that employ more than 10,000 people, followed by 27% of Chefs who work for companies that employ between 1,000 and 10,000 employees. 

See the breakdown of Chef jobs according to the size of their employer in the graph below: 

Chef Languages Spoken  

While English is expected from Chefs working in the United States, most Chefs also speak a second language.  

The most popular second language for Chefs is Spanish, as 48.5% of all Chefs who speak a different language can speak it. 

The second most spoken language is French at 14.9%, while Italian is the third most spoken language at 10.4%. 

See what other languages Chefs speak below: 

Additional Chef Statistics 

• The top earning Chefs (90^th percentile) can earn more than $93,900 annually
• The lowest-paid Chefs (10^th percentile) earn $36,040 per year
• The average hourly salary for Chefs is $30.12
• The job outlook for Chefs in the United States is projected to continue growing at 5%, which is faster than average for other professions
• The average salary for a Sous Chef is $62,640 per year
• The highest employment concentration of Chefs is in NYC, particularly in Brooklyn and Queens

Chef Statistics and Demographics Data 

We collect and present data from multiple sources, including government websites and agencies. 

See how we do it on our statistics and demographics methodology page. 

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