Pay by state · 53 areas

Chef Salary by State (2026)

Name: Chef annual wages by US state, May 2025
Creator: NueCareer
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Chefs and Head Cooks earn the most in Rhode Island at $79,930 a year and the least in Louisiana at $45,570 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The national median is $62,470. The table below covers all 50 states, DC, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, with a cost-of-living adjusted column.

Highest median: $79,930Rhode Island
National median: $62,470BLS OEWS, May 2025
Lowest median: $45,570Louisiana
Areas reporting: 53of 54 OEWS areas

Top and bottom

Highest- and lowest-paying states for chefs and head cooks

Ranked on the state median among the 50 states and DC. After cost of living, North Dakota comes out ahead instead. Territories are in the full table but not ranked here.

Highest median pay

1Rhode Island$79,930
2Hawaii$77,360
3District of Columbia$76,420
4Washington$76,010
5North Dakota$74,740

Lowest median pay

1Louisiana$45,570
2Arkansas$46,170
3Iowa$47,990
4Kentucky$48,070
5South Dakota$48,470

All states

Chef salary in every state

Sort by any column. Employment is the number of chefs and head cooks OEWS estimates in that state; blank cells are estimates BLS suppressed because the sample was too small.

Annual wages by state, sortable by median, quartiles, employment and cost-of-living adjusted median
#
1	RIRhode Island	$79,930	$71,630	$96,180	740	$78,148
2	HIHawaii	$77,360	$54,530	$98,640	1,240	$70,359
3	DCDistrict of Columbia	$76,420	$63,550	$81,360	2,020	$69,535
4	WAWashington	$76,010	$58,650	$81,540	5,320	$71,029
5	NDNorth Dakota	$74,740	$48,940	$78,700	100	$84,016
6	NJNew Jersey	$74,280	$59,860	$82,200	9,100	$68,269
7	WYWyoming	$73,170	$62,100	$83,700	240	$78,940
8	SCSouth Carolina	$71,860	$60,120	$79,050	2,650	$76,651
9	NYNew York	$70,670	$55,070	$93,240	17,430	$65,483
10	TNTennessee	$69,810	$57,470	$81,900	3,820	$75,988
11	MAMassachusetts	$69,540	$54,120	$83,050	6,000	$65,755
12	GAGeorgia	$66,230	$50,220	$90,350	3,680	$68,780
13	VTVermont	$65,440	$56,770	$77,360	610	$66,804
14	COColorado	$65,400	$58,220	$79,420	3,970	$63,463
15	CACalifornia	$64,500	$46,320	$81,040	31,670	$58,255
16	MOMissouri	$64,480	$49,550	$76,520	1,750	$71,000
17	CTConnecticut	$64,310	$51,160	$77,800	3,080	$62,069
18	VIU.S. Virgin Islands	$63,960	$46,800	$78,000	260	N/A
19	PAPennsylvania	$63,860	$49,280	$81,790	9,170	$65,449
20	OROregon	$63,600	$53,660	$77,420	2,510	$61,532
21	NHNew Hampshire	$63,400	$52,510	$76,300	1,170	$60,865
22	VAVirginia	$63,270	$50,170	$77,270	3,600	$62,579
23	MNMinnesota	$62,600	$53,050	$75,960	1,730	$63,475
24	ALAlabama	$62,400	$50,900	$74,130	1,000	$70,252
25	NVNevada	$62,380	$49,920	$78,650	3,940	$62,393
26	NMNew Mexico	$62,250	$48,540	$83,260	770	$67,507
27	MDMaryland	$61,590	$45,030	$78,590	3,220	$58,680
28	DEDelaware	$61,440	$56,160	$76,310	590	$61,558
29	WIWisconsin	$61,300	$49,200	$74,080	1,860	$65,147
30	NCNorth Carolina	$61,130	$48,360	$76,330	4,920	$64,807
31	WVWest Virginia	$61,100	$47,990	$82,480	350	$68,270
32	NENebraska	$60,510	$46,020	$81,660	540	$67,156
33	MIMichigan	$60,070	$48,970	$74,090	5,360	$62,432
34	AZArizona	$59,890	$38,480	$74,990	4,080	$59,487
35	UTUtah	$59,060	$41,750	$75,830	1,740	$59,739
36	ILIllinois	$58,830	$50,000	$73,620	8,290	$58,855
37	OKOklahoma	$58,540	$37,840	$67,560	1,430	$66,642
38	KSKansas	$58,390	$43,990	$74,990	860	$64,829
39	FLFlorida	$58,240	$43,680	$75,840	19,670	$56,317
40	MTMontana	$57,470	$48,890	$72,020	720	$60,722
41	MEMaine	$57,010	$55,070	$63,060	1,250	$58,743
42	TXTexas	$56,080	$42,030	$71,870	13,270	$57,780
43	MSMississippi	$54,850	$37,180	$76,350	840	$63,080
44	OHOhio	$53,990	$45,760	$74,130	4,000	$58,195
45	AKAlaska	$52,190	$41,390	$73,120	680	$50,987
46	INIndiana	$52,190	$39,110	$64,990	1,940	$55,920
47	IDIdaho	$52,000	$42,330	$66,930	550	$54,454
48	SDSouth Dakota	$48,470	$39,650	$51,870	300	$54,715
49	KYKentucky	$48,070	$36,850	$66,770	1,790	$53,317
50	IAIowa	$47,990	$42,620	$59,380	1,640	$54,682
51	ARArkansas	$46,170	$39,430	$64,970	880	$53,107
52	LALouisiana	$45,570	$39,650	$59,020	1,990	$51,663
53	PRPuerto Rico	$30,800	$26,580	$47,840	770	N/A

Method

How the cost-of-living adjustment works

The adjusted column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity (RPP) and multiplies by 100. RPPs measure how much a fixed basket of goods, services and rents costs in one state relative to the national average, so the result restates local pay in national-average dollars.

For chefs and head cooks, that changes the ranking: Rhode Island leads on raw pay at $79,930, while North Dakota leads once prices are taken into account at $84,016.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024 (public domain). The adjustment is NueCareer's calculation, not a BLS or BEA published statistic.

Questions

Chef pay by state: FAQ

Which state pays chefs and head cooks the most?

Rhode Island reports the highest median wage for chefs and head cooks at $79,930 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), followed by Hawaii ($77,360) and District of Columbia ($76,420).

Which state pays chefs and head cooks the least?

Among the 50 states and DC, Louisiana reports the lowest median for chefs and head cooks at $45,570 a year, $34,360 below the highest-paying state (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Among the territories, U.S. Virgin Islands reports $63,960 and Puerto Rico reports $30,800.

Is the highest-paying state the best for chefs and head cooks after cost of living?

Not on this data. Rhode Island pays the most on paper ($79,930) but ranks 3rd of 51 once each median is divided by the state's BEA Regional Price Parity ($78,148). North Dakota leads after that adjustment at $84,016, from a raw median of $74,740. BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024; the adjustment is NueCareer's calculation.

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