How Much Do Chefs Make?

Quick Answer: Most chefs in the U.S. earn around $61,000 per year, according to BLS data, with top earners making up to $94,000. Entry-level or lower-cost markets may see salaries closer to $45,000–$55,000, while high-end or high-cost cities often pay significantly more.

Chef pay varies widely based on location, experience, cuisine, and restaurant type — and what you can offer should fit your labor budget. In most restaurants, management roles (including chefs) typically account for 8–10% of total revenue, which helps you determine what’s sustainable for your operation.

What Are the Average Salaries for Different Chef Positions?

Different kitchen roles command vastly different pay, creating clear budget tiers for your staffing decisions:

• Executive Chefs lead the pack, with chefs and head cooks earning a national median salary of about $60,990 and top earners approaching $93,900 annually. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these figures place executive-level roles well above sous chefs and line cooks, who typically earn significantly lower wages.
• Sous Chefs typically earn in the low-to-mid $50,000s annually, which is roughly 60–65% more than line cooks, whose median pay is about $33,000 per year according to Zip Recruiter.
• Line Cooks earn a median of about $33,000 per year based on BLS data, while job-posting sites show typical hourly pay in the $16–$18 range depending on restaurant type and location.
• Pastry Chefs salaries vary widely depending on location, experience, and establishment type. Recent U.S. data from an Oysterlink study shows average annual pay for pastry chefs around US$ 54,995–67,500, with many falling within a broader band between US$ 51,000 and US$ 90,000 depending on role and venue.

Experience matters significantly: Executive chefs typically earn around $61,000 per year nationwide (the BLS median). Many in upper-tier kitchens or large resorts earn between $74,000 and $105,000, depending on experience, location, and bonus structures.

What Factors Affect a Chef’s Salary?

A chef’s earnings can differ dramatically from one restaurant to another, and several key factors influence how much you’ll need to budget for the role.

Location is one of the biggest drivers. Restaurants in major metro areas generally offer higher salaries to match a competitive hiring market and higher living costs. 

Restaurant type also plays a major role, with fine dining and hotel kitchens typically offering higher compensation than casual or quick-service operations.

Experience and credentials can increase earning potential as well. Chefs with formal culinary training, specialized skills, or industry certifications often command higher pay.

Restaurant size and revenue determine what’s realistic for your budget. Smaller operations may have limited salary capacity, while high-volume or multi-unit restaurants often support more competitive compensation packages.

How Should Restaurants Budget for Chef Labor Costs?

Once you understand typical chef salaries, the next step is figuring out how those numbers fit into your restaurant’s overall labor budget.

Here's how the math works: A $1 million restaurant with 30% labor costs has $300,000 total labor budget. At 10% for management, that's $100,000 for all salaried positions. After accounting for a general manager, you might have $65,000-$75,000 available for an executive chef. Your remaining labor budget covers your hourly teams in the kitchen and front of house.

These budget constraints determine what chef compensation packages you can realistically offer.

The real trick is: maximizing value within those constraints. Homebase helps you stay within budget with all-in-one workforce management, including Labor Cost tracking and optimized kitchen staffing. Real-time visibility into labor costs prevents those surprise overtime bills that crush your margins, while Employee Scheduling matches your staffing to actual demand patterns.

Retention matters more than you think: Turnover is expensive, especially in leadership roles like chefs. Competitive compensation helps reduce churn and the operational disruptions that come with it.

A healthy prime cost — the combination of food and labor — typically ranges from 55–65% of total sales, according to industry benchmarks from Toast. If food costs run 30%, you have 25-35% available for labor. Strategic chef compensation becomes an investment in operational stability that can superpower your managers and create the kitchen leadership foundation your restaurant needs to thrive.

How Can Homebase Help You Stay on Budget?

Chef salaries can take up a big share of your labor costs, and staying on budget starts with knowing exactly how your team’s hours translate into real expenses. Homebase helps by tracking hours automatically, giving you real-time labor cost insights as you build the schedule, and sending alerts when overtime is about to push your costs higher. With time and attendance data flowing directly into payroll, it’s easier to avoid surprises and stay in control of your labor budget.

Understanding chef salary benchmarks makes it easier to hire confidently — and the right tools help you stay on budget once your new chef is on the team.

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Sources and Methodology

At Homebase, we rely on up-to-date, authoritative sources to ensure every Question Center article reflects accurate guidance for small business owners. We begin with primary information from official labor and economic organizations, verify details using current industry salary data, and use reputable compensation studies only to supplement—not replace—official benchmarks.

For this piece, we referenced salary and employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, compensation insights from ZipRecruiter and Indeed, industry benchmarks from Toast, and specialized role data from OysterLink.

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