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Cooks, Restaurant pay in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD and Kahului-Wailuku, HI
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Cooks, Restaurant is $37,420 per year in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD. It is $49,560 per year in Kahului-Wailuku, HI. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD is 24.5% below Kahului-Wailuku, HI on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 35-2014 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 7,760 wage and salary jobs in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD and 1,770 in Kahului-Wailuku, HI. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings