# Chefs and Head Cooks

US SOC code 35-1011. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/35-1011

Also called: Chef, Head cook, Executive chef, Chef de cuisine, Sous chef.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **200,040** US chefs and head cooks, with median pay of **$62,470** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/9050occup.shtml) of **50,000** from 1900, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for chefs and head cooks: Miso Robotics Flippy + Spyce robotic kitchen, 2017 to 2024. Robot kitchen deployments as of 2026 remain confined to the commodity prep tier: repetitive single-task cooking (frying, chopping, portioning) in high-volume fast-food contexts.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 6.6% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=35-1011&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **26.2%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)
- **0.1** estimated probability that the whole occupation could be computerised, over an unspecified number of years. Not a forecast of job losses. [Frey and Osborne, 2013](https://oms-www.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Chefs and Head Cooks employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1789
- Latest US employment: 200,040 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $62,470 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [11]
- Outlook: +6.6% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [35]

### In other countries

The latest figure each country's statistics agency publishes for this job. Each uses its own occupation definition, survey basis and currency, so the numbers are not directly comparable with each other or with the US figures.

- **Canada** (NOC 62200)
  - Employment, 2020: 62,880. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [8]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021: number of persons with employment income in NOC 62200 Chefs, Canada, reference year 2020. A recipients basis (anyone with employment income during the year), slightly broader than a point-in-time employed count. Statistics Canada Open Licence.
  - Median pay, 2020: C$40,400. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [15]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021 (Table 98-10-0586): median employment income for NOC 62200 Chefs, Canada, reference year 2020, full-year full-time workers (the basis comparable to the US OEWS full-time median). Statistics Canada Open Licence.

### All 28 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1900 | 50,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., IPUMS USA [1] |
| 1930 | n/a | $1,200 (estimate) | Est., University of Missouri Libraries [9] |
| 1946 | 80,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Culinary Institute of America [2] |
| 1958 | n/a | $3,900 (estimate) | Est., RetroWow [10] |
| 2001 | 114,930 | n/a | BLS OEWS 2001 [3] |
| 2003 | 118,870 | $28,750 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [4] |
| 2004 | 116,930 | $30,680 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [4] |
| 2005 | 115,850 | $32,330 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [4] |
| 2006 | 104,080 | $34,370 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [4] |
| 2007 | 100,130 | $37,160 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [4] |
| 2008 | 98,040 | $38,770 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [4] |
| 2009 | 94,300 | $40,090 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [4] |
| 2010 | 90,510 | $40,630 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [4] |
| 2011 | 90,300 | $42,350 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [4] |
| 2012 | 97,370 | $42,480 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [4] |
| 2013 | 107,730 | $42,490 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [4] |
| 2014 | 118,130 | $41,610 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [4] |
| 2015 | 129,370 | $41,500 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [4] |
| 2016 | 134,190 | $43,180 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [4] |
| 2017 | 131,430 | $45,950 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [4] |
| 2018 | 128,600 | $48,460 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [4] |
| 2019 | 128,190 | $51,530 | BLS OEWS May 2019 (employment) [5]; BLS OEWS May 2019 (pay) [11] |
| 2020 | 101,490 | $53,380 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [4] |
| 2021 | 129,810 | $50,160 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 160,190 | $56,520 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 172,370 | $58,920 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 182,320 | $60,990 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 200,040 | $62,470 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (103)

### Employment series

1. [IPUMS USA — 1900 Occupational Classification (cooks, domestic and personal service)](https://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/9050occup.shtml), IPUMS / University of Minnesota
2. [Culinary Institute of America — "Our Story: CIA History"](https://www.ciachef.edu/our-story/), Culinary Institute of America
3. [BLS OES 2001 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes01nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
5. [BLS OEWS — Chefs and Head Cooks, May 2019 (national employment)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/2019/may/oes351011.htm), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
6. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2006, Table 97-563-XCB2006069 (Wage and salary statistics by occupation, NOC-S 2006), income reference year 2005](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&PID=96285), Statistics Canada
7. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2016, Table 98-400-X2016356 (Occupation by employment income statistics, NOC 2016), income reference year 2015](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/98-400-X2016356), Statistics Canada
8. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada

### Wage series

9. [University of Missouri Libraries — Prices and Wages by Decade: 1930-1939 (restaurant chefs/cooks, derived from BLS Union Scales context)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1930-1939), University of Missouri Libraries
10. [RetroWow — "How much did people earn in the 1950s USA?" (cooks of average skill: $50-$100/week, top chefs more)](https://www.retrowow.co.uk/social_history/50s/earnings_1950s_usa.php), RetroWow (historical wage reference)
11. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
12. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
13. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2006, Table 97-563-XCB2006069 (Wage and salary statistics by occupation, NOC-S 2006), income reference year 2005](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&PID=96285), Statistics Canada
14. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2016, Table 98-400-X2016356 (Occupation by employment income statistics, NOC 2016), income reference year 2015](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/98-400-X2016356), Statistics Canada
15. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada

### Tool eras

16. [NPR — "Marie-Antoine Carême Was The World's First Celebrity Chef"](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/01/12/509154654/how-a-destitute-abandoned-parisian-boy-became-the-first-celebrity-chef), NPR
17. [Institute of Culinary Education — "French History: The First Celebrity Chef"](https://www.ice.edu/blog/french-history-first-celebrity-chef), Institute of Culinary Education
18. [Wikipedia — Gas stove (commercial adoption history, Alexis Soyer, 1841)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_stove), Wikipedia
19. [Smithsonian Magazine — "Cooking through the Ages: A Timeline of Oven Inventions"](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/cooking-through-the-ages-a-timeline-of-oven-inventions-380050/), Smithsonian Magazine
20. [Wikipedia — Auguste Escoffier (brigade system, Savoy Hotel 1890)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Escoffier), Wikipedia
21. [National Culinary Authority — "The Kitchen Brigade System: Roles and Hierarchy Explained"](https://nationalculinaryauthority.com/kitchen-brigade-system), National Culinary Authority
22. [Cornell Library — "Kitchen Technology" (commercial refrigeration and mixer adoption)](https://exhibits.library.cornell.edu/food/feature/kitchen-technology), Cornell University Library
23. [Culinary Institute of America — "Our Story: CIA History"](https://www.ciachef.edu/our-story/), Culinary Institute of America
24. [Wikipedia — The Culinary Institute of America (history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culinary_Institute_of_America), Wikipedia
25. [HISTORY.com — "Julia Child's The French Chef debuts" (February 11, 1963)](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/february-11/julia-child-french-chef-debuts), HISTORY
26. [Tasting Table — "All About Wolfgang Puck's First Los Angeles Restaurant Spago" (1982 open kitchen)](https://www.tastingtable.com/1579405/first-restaurant-wolfgang-puck-opened/), Tasting Table
27. [America's Test Kitchen — "The History of Sous Vide, Explained"](https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/1142-the-history-of-sous-vide-explained), America's Test Kitchen
28. [Wikipedia — Joël Robuchon (sous vide railroad program)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABl_Robuchon), Wikipedia
29. [Wikipedia — OpenTable (history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenTable), Wikipedia
30. [CNBC — "Restaurants have laid off thousands in wake of coronavirus — but ghost kitchens are hiring" (April 2020)](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/15/coronavirus-restaurants-have-laid-off-thousands-but-ghost-kitchens-are-hiring.html), CNBC
31. [Wikipedia — CloudKitchens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CloudKitchens), Wikipedia
32. [Fortune — "Miso Robotics acquires Zignyl in $28 billion race to automate restaurants" (February 2026)](https://fortune.com/2026/02/26/robot-disruption-fast-food-short-order-cook-flippy-labor-shortage/), Fortune
33. [Boston.com — "Eating a power bowl from the world's first robotic kitchen" (Spyce, 2018)](https://www.boston.com/food/massachusetts-news/2018/05/03/robot-restaurant-spyce-boston/), Boston.com
34. [Toast POS — "How to Handle the Restaurant Industry Labor Shortage" (AI scheduling and analytics, 2026)](https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/how-to-handle-the-restaurant-industry-labor-shortage), Toast

### Forecasts and exposure studies

35. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 35-1011 Chefs and head cooks (2025: 220.3 thousand; 2035: 234.7 thousand; +6.6%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=35-1011&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
36. [Frey & Osborne (2013), "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?", Appendix (SOC 35-1011 Chefs and Head Cooks: probability 0.1, rank 169 of 702)](https://oms-www.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf), Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford
37. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 35-1011.00, human-rated β 0.262)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

38. [Markys — "The French Revolution and the Birth of Modern Restaurants"](https://www.markys.com/blog/the-french-revolution-and-the-birth-of-modern-restaurants), Markys Caviar (historical reference)
39. [Delmonico's — "The History of Delmonico's"](https://www.theoriginaldelmonicos.com/our-history/), Delmonico's Restaurant
40. [Wikipedia — Auguste Escoffier (Le Guide Culinaire)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Escoffier), Wikipedia
41. [Culinary Institute of America — "Our Story: CIA History"](https://www.ciachef.edu/our-story/), Culinary Institute of America
42. [HISTORY.com — "Julia Child's The French Chef debuts" (February 11, 1963)](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/february-11/julia-child-french-chef-debuts), HISTORY
43. [Smithsonian Magazine — "Fifty Years Ago, Berkeley Restaurant Chez Panisse Launched the Farm-to-Table Movement"](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/fifty-years-ago-berkeley-restaurant-chez-panisse-launched-farm-table-movement-180978181/), Smithsonian Magazine
44. [Tasting Table — "All About Wolfgang Puck's First Los Angeles Restaurant Spago"](https://www.tastingtable.com/1579405/first-restaurant-wolfgang-puck-opened/), Tasting Table
45. [HowStuffWorks — "Did cooking shows create a generation of foodies?"](https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/tv-and-culture/cooking-shows-create-foodies.htm), HowStuffWorks
46. [National Restaurant Association — "100,000 Restaurants Closed Six Months into Pandemic" (September 2020)](https://restaurant.org/research-and-media/media/press-releases/100,000-restaurants-closed-six-months-into-pandemic/), National Restaurant Association
47. [Escoffier School — "The Great Resignation Hit Restaurants Hard — But Created These New Opportunities"](https://www.escoffier.edu/blog/culinary-pastry-careers/the-great-resignation-hit-restaurants-hard/), Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts

### Predecessors & successors

48. [Markys — "The French Revolution and the Birth of Modern Restaurants"](https://www.markys.com/blog/the-french-revolution-and-the-birth-of-modern-restaurants), Markys Caviar (historical reference)
49. [Culinary Institute of America — "Our Story: CIA History" (founded for WWII veterans)](https://www.ciachef.edu/our-story/), Culinary Institute of America
50. [Wikipedia — The Culinary Institute of America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culinary_Institute_of_America), Wikipedia
51. [CNBC — "Ghost kitchens are hiring" (April 2020)](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/15/coronavirus-restaurants-have-laid-off-thousands-but-ghost-kitchens-are-hiring.html), CNBC

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Chefs and Head Cooks (35-1011.00): tasks, work activities, technology skills, employment data](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/35-1011.00), accessed 2026-05-28
- [BLS OOH — Chefs and Head Cooks: 158,400 employed May 2023; +7% growth 2023-2033; 19,500 annual openings; median $60,690](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/food-preparation-and-serving/chefs-and-head-cooks.htm), accessed 2026-05-28
- [National Restaurant Association — State of the Restaurant Industry 2025: chef talent top recruiting challenge; menu quality #1 guest loyalty driver](https://restaurant.org/research-and-media/research/research-reports/state-of-the-industry/), accessed 2026-05-28
- [Miso Robotics / Flippy deployment analysis (Nation's Restaurant News, QSR Magazine 2024-2025): constrained to single-station frying at QSR; multi-item flexibility and installation complexity prevent line cook replacement](https://www.misorobotics.com/), accessed 2026-05-28
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science): food preparation workers among lowest LLM exposure tiers; physical-sensory tasks not amenable to language model augmentation](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-28
- [McKinsey Global Institute — Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained (2017, updated estimates 2023): food service workers among least automation-exposed; finger dexterity + sensory judgment ranked among hardest automation targets](https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/jobs-lost-jobs-gained-what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages), accessed 2026-05-28
- [MenuSano — AI nutritional analysis: computes FDA-compliant Nutrition Facts panels from recipe ingredient data; eliminates lab testing requirement for menu labeling](https://www.menusano.com/), accessed 2026-05-28
- [MarketMan — AI-powered restaurant inventory and procurement management; automated reorder, invoice processing, and food cost analytics](https://www.marketman.com/), accessed 2026-05-28
- [MarginEdge — theoretical vs. actual food cost variance reporting; OCR invoice ingestion; customer case studies document 2-4 margin-point food cost improvement](https://www.marginedge.com/), accessed 2026-05-28
- [Toast — State of the Restaurant Industry 2025: food cost and labor cost are the top two operational pressures for full-service restaurants; financial visibility a core management competency](https://pos.toasttab.com/resources/state-of-the-restaurant-industry), accessed 2026-05-28

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.