A percentile is a position in the BLS distribution. It is not a promised offer or career forecast.
10th
$25,810
25th
$29,950
Median
$35,320
75th
$38,550
90th
$45,340
National context
What changes around the median
Food Preparation Workers ranked 10 of 17 detailed food preparation and serving related occupations with a published annual median. The national annual mean was 0.1% below the median, showing why one center point does not describe the full distribution.
Area estimates below use the same SOC code and release. They do not adjust for cost of living, experience, benefits, hours, employer mix, or remote-work policy.
Published metro rows
Highest medians for Food Preparation Workers
Ranked only among metros with a published annual median. No cost-of-living adjustment.
Use the published range, job count, place pattern, and survey limits as separate facts. The guide stays tied to SOC 35-2021 and the May 2025 BLS release.
Questions, answered
Food Preparation Workers: common wage questions
What is the median wage for Food Preparation Workers?
The May 2025 BLS OEWS release published a U.S. median of $35,320 per year for Food Preparation Workers. It is an occupation estimate, not a promised offer or an individual's pay.
How many Food Preparation Workers jobs does BLS estimate nationally?
BLS published an employment estimate of 893,600 wage and salary jobs. The estimate is not a count of current openings and excludes the self-employed.
Why is the mean wage different from the median for Food Preparation Workers?
The published annual mean is 0.1% below the median. The mean uses every published wage value, while the median marks the middle of the distribution.
Which metro has the highest published median for Food Preparation Workers?
From market data to your evidence
Tailor for a real Food Preparation Workers job, not a generic wage number.
Pick an eligible listing, then MeritLog can help you prepare from experience you have confirmed. WageScope never turns a BLS estimate into a qualification or résumé claim.
What the national Food Preparation Workers median says
The May 2025 BLS OEWS estimate puts the U.S. median for Food Preparation Workers at $35,320 per year. Median means the middle. Half of the wage values used for this estimate fall below that point. Half fall above it. The median is not one worker's pay. It is not a job offer. It is one clear mark for the middle of a broad national pay range.
BLS also lists 893,600 wage and salary jobs for Food Preparation Workers. That count covers jobs in the survey's scope. It does not count open job ads. It also leaves out people who work for themselves. The wage and job counts share the same May 2025 reference point, so they can be read together without mixing time periods.
The Food Preparation Workers mean of $35,290 per year is 0.1% below the $35,320 median on the same published median. Mean means BLS adds the wage values and divides the total by the number of jobs behind the estimate. A gap between mean and median shows that the shape is not even. It does not explain the cause of the gap.
BLS names this record Food Preparation Workers and gives it SOC 35-2021. The two-part code is the stable key for this page. A role with a close name keeps a different code, wage row, job count, and area pattern. WageScope never joins two SOC records because their words sound alike.
For SOC 35-2021, the U.S. row reports 893,600 wage and salary jobs. Its annual median is $35,320 per year. Its matching mean is $35,290 per year. These facts come from one national row and one May 2025 release.
The same SOC 35-2021 appears in 54 state or territory rows, 393 metro rows, and 137 nonmetro rows in this artifact. A missing local row stays missing. The national record does not fill it, and a nearby SOC does not stand in for it.
Read the Food Preparation Workers wage ladder from low to high
The 10th percentile is $25,810 per year. The 25th percentile is $29,950 per year. The median is $35,320 per year. The 75th percentile is $38,550 per year. The 90th percentile is $45,340 per year. Each point marks a place in the same national wage spread.
A percentile is a rank point. It is not a career step. For example, the 10th percentile means 10% of wage values are at or below that mark. It does not mean a new worker starts there. The 90th percentile means 90% are at or below that mark. It does not mean a worker can reach it after a set number of years.
The middle half runs from $29,950 to $38,550 per year. That span is $8,600. The full 10th-to-90th span is $19,530. These spans show why one median cannot stand in for every Food Preparation Workers job.
What the gaps around the Food Preparation Workers median show
The median is 36.8% above the 10th percentile. The 90th percentile is 28.4% above the median. The two sides do not have to match. A wider upper side can pull the mean up. A wider lower side can pull it down. The data shows the shape, but not the reason for that shape.
The 25th-to-median step is $5,370 per year. The median-to-75th step is $3,230 per year. These two steps give a closer look at the middle half. They are often more useful than a single top-to-bottom gap because they keep the center in view.
Use this ladder as a fact check when you read a job post. A posted range can sit below, near, or above these BLS marks. That does not make the post wrong. A job may differ by place, hours, level, field, employer, or work rules. Keep the posted range tied to that listing. Keep the BLS range tied to the whole occupation.
Metro areas with the highest published Food Preparation Workers medians
WageScope found 393 metro rows with the same published annual median for Food Preparation Workers. It sorts only those rows. It does not fill a blank row. It does not turn a blank into zero. The first six rows below have the highest published medians in this release. The list is a wage rank, not a rank of places to live or work.
The first row is Kahului-Wailuku, HI, at $46,680 per year. The middle metro row by published pay is Watertown-Fort Drum, NY, at $32,390 per year. That middle metro mark gives one more check on how far the top rows sit from a common place in the set.
These are nominal wages. Nominal means the dollar amount shown in the source. This list does not adjust for local price levels. It also does not tell us how many openings an area has now. Use a local page to see price-level context when an exact BEA row exists. Use the separate job block to inspect current employer-title matches.
1. Kahului-Wailuku, HI has a Food Preparation Workers median of $46,680 per year, or $11,360 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. BLS lists 720 jobs there, against 893,600 across the U.S. The local location quotient is 1.7.
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA has a Food Preparation Workers median of $45,580 per year, or $10,260 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. BLS lists 5,930 jobs there, against 893,600 across the U.S. The local location quotient is 0.91.
Job count
Metro areas with the largest Food Preparation Workers job estimates
A large wage can appear in a small job market. A large job market can have a lower wage. That is why WageScope keeps pay and job count in separate views. The six rows below have the largest published employment estimates for Food Preparation Workers among metro rows in this release. Employment means the number of wage and salary jobs in scope. It does not mean open roles.
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ has the largest listed metro estimate in this set, at 63,530 jobs. Its median is $35,670 per year. Compare that with Kahului-Wailuku, HI, which leads the published median list. The leaders may match, or they may not. Each list answers a different question.
Job count can help you see the scale of a local labor market. It cannot show churn, new hiring, job quality, remote work, or the chance that one person will get hired. Current listings add a second view, but they are a dated sample of posts. WageScope never turns the listing count into a demand score.
1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ has 63,530 estimated Food Preparation Workers jobs, or 7.1% of the national 893,600 job estimate. Its median is $35,670 per year, or $350 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. Its location quotient is 1.16.
Local share
Where Food Preparation Workers has a larger share of local jobs
Location quotient is a share check. A value of 1 means the role has the same share of local jobs as it has across the nation. A value above 1 means the local share is larger. A value below 1 means the local share is smaller. It is not a count. It is not a wage. It does not say that a place is growing.
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA has the highest published location quotient in this bounded metro set, at 3.68. The same row lists 2,070 jobs and a median of $24,380 per year. Reading all three values keeps a high share from being mistaken for a large market or high pay.
A small area can have a high location quotient because the role makes up a large part of a small local job base. A large area can have many workers and a lower quotient. Use the quotient to ask where the role is common in the mix. Use employment to ask how many jobs BLS estimated. Use the wage fields to ask what the published pay range looks like.
1. Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA has a Food Preparation Workers location quotient of 3.68. BLS lists 2,070 jobs and a median of $24,380 per year, or $10,940 below the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. The U.S. job estimate is 893,600.
2. Lake Charles, LA has a Food Preparation Workers location quotient of 3.32. BLS lists 1,940 jobs and a median of $23,380 per year, or $11,940 below the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. The U.S. job estimate is 893,600.
SOC family
How Food Preparation Workers sits in Food Preparation and Serving Related
Food Preparation Workers is SOC 35-2021. BLS places it in the Food Preparation and Serving Related major group. Among 17 detailed roles in that group with a published annual median, Food Preparation Workers ranks 10 of 17 by median. This is a pay rank inside one source family. It is not a rank of skill, value, status, or career fit.
The closest same-family medians help set a fair peer frame. They do not claim that the work is the same. Official SOC titles can cover different tasks and settings. WageScope uses the family only because BLS publishes that link. It does not infer a career move, a skill match, or a hiring path from the wage gap.
Use these peer rows to spot whether the $35,320 median sits near many family roles or far from them. Then open a role's own page before using its number. Each role has a different code, job count, wage spread, and place pattern. One family label does not erase those facts.
1. Food Servers, Nonrestaurant, SOC 35-3041, has a U.S. median of $35,360 per year. Its gap from Food Preparation Workers is $40 per year.
2. Waiters and Waitresses, SOC 35-3031, has a U.S. median of $35,230 per year. Its gap from Food Preparation Workers is $90 per year.
Data care
How much care to use with the Food Preparation Workers estimate
BLS marks the employment relative standard error at 1.7%. It marks the mean-wage relative standard error at 0.4%. A relative standard error, or RSE, is a survey precision flag. A smaller RSE often means less sampling uncertainty. It is not the chance that one worker's pay is right or wrong.
The employment RSE applies to the 893,600 job estimate. The mean-wage RSE applies to the published mean of $35,290 per year. These fields do not give a matching RSE for the median or each percentile. WageScope shows the fields BLS published and does not move one RSE to another measure.
Survey values can change when BLS updates its methods, sample, models, or source year. That is why this page keeps May 2025 in view. A later release can replace these facts only after MeritLog pins the new official files, checks the rows, and reviews the page again. A changed number is not treated as a correction unless the source says so.
A simple way to compare Food Preparation Workers across places
First, compare the same wage metric. Use annual with annual or hourly with hourly. Next, check the source date. Keep May 2025 BLS rows together. Then read employment and location quotient beside pay. This stops a high median from standing in for market size or local share. Last, add BEA price-level context only when the exact place has an approved row.
A state, metro, and nonmetro area are not the same kind of map. Do not rank them in one list without saying so. WageScope groups like with like. It also keeps a national row as a broad bench mark. A local page can show the local row, its state row when that link is exact, and the U.S. row without blending them.
If a value is blank, keep it blank. If BLS marks a top code, read it as a lower bound. Do not fill a blank from a nearby place. Do not turn a wage gap into a claim about taxes, hours, benefits, work rules, or a household budget. Those facts are not in the OEWS row.
Move from Food Preparation Workers wage data to one real listing
The job block on this page uses a strict employer-title match for Food Preparation Workers. It may show fewer rows than the full MeritLog job search. That is on purpose. A false negative is safer here than a job card for a different role. Each card keeps its employer, place, source, and seen date. The cards do not change the BLS wage data.
Open one listing and read its own pay, work place, level, and needs. Compare its posted range with the BLS spread only as context. A posted range is set by an employer for one role. The BLS range is a survey view across many jobs. Neither source proves that a person is fit for the work.
When you tailor a résumé, use work facts you can back up. Do not turn $35,320 into a skill or result. Do not copy a BLS job count into your work history. MeritLog can help shape confirmed experience for a chosen listing. The wage page stays public and read only. It does not save a job or create a résumé on page load.
What this Food Preparation Workers page does not claim
This page does not say what one Food Preparation Workers worker earns. It does not promise that a job pays the median. It does not state a starting wage. It does not explain why the mean and median differ. It does not add benefits, tips, stock, bonus pay, taxes, or work hours unless BLS includes them in the published wage measure.
The page does not count people who work for themselves. It does not turn 893,600 into current openings. It does not read private MeritLog jobs or Career Memory. MeritLog does not use the page to build a private career profile. While public analytics are on, GA4, Ahrefs, and Meta may receive the public page URL; Your Privacy Choices or Global Privacy Control turns that off. The page does not send its text to a model.
The best use is narrow and clear. Read the May 2025 BLS wage range. Check how the role changes by place. Add the separate 2024 BEA price level when an exact row exists. Inspect a dated employer-title match. Then make a résumé choice from facts you have confirmed. Keep each source tied to the question it can answer.
Kahului-Wailuku, HI has the highest annual median among the metro rows with a published value on this page, at $46,680. This is a nominal BLS estimate with no price-level adjustment.
Are the current job listings included in the BLS wage calculation?
No. MeritLog shows eligible live public-catalog listings separately, with their own source and observation date. Posted pay never changes the official BLS distribution.
3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA has a Food Preparation Workers median of $43,830 per year, or $8,510 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. BLS lists 11,060 jobs there, against 893,600 across the U.S. The local location quotient is 0.92.
4. Napa, CA has a Food Preparation Workers median of $42,810 per year, or $7,490 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. BLS lists 620 jobs there, against 893,600 across the U.S. The local location quotient is 1.39.
5. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA has a Food Preparation Workers median of $42,640 per year, or $7,320 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. BLS lists 1,410 jobs there, against 893,600 across the U.S. The local location quotient is 1.19.
6. Yakima, WA has a Food Preparation Workers median of $41,750 per year, or $6,430 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. BLS lists 600 jobs there, against 893,600 across the U.S. The local location quotient is 1.07.
2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA has 44,930 estimated Food Preparation Workers jobs, or 5.0% of the national 893,600 job estimate. Its median is $39,770 per year, or $4,450 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. Its location quotient is 1.25.
3. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN has 27,100 estimated Food Preparation Workers jobs, or 3.0% of the national 893,600 job estimate. Its median is $35,410 per year, or $90 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. Its location quotient is 1.04.
4. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX has 21,700 estimated Food Preparation Workers jobs, or 2.4% of the national 893,600 job estimate. Its median is $30,740 per year, or $4,580 below the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. Its location quotient is 0.93.
5. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL has 19,630 estimated Food Preparation Workers jobs, or 2.2% of the national 893,600 job estimate. Its median is $36,090 per year, or $770 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. Its location quotient is 1.21.
6. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA has 17,060 estimated Food Preparation Workers jobs, or 1.9% of the national 893,600 job estimate. Its median is $36,090 per year, or $770 above the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. Its location quotient is 1.03.
3. Monroe, LA has a Food Preparation Workers location quotient of 3.25. BLS lists 1,630 jobs and a median of $22,430 per year, or $12,890 below the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. The U.S. job estimate is 893,600.
4. Lafayette, LA has a Food Preparation Workers location quotient of 3.16. BLS lists 3,260 jobs and a median of $22,920 per year, or $12,400 below the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. The U.S. job estimate is 893,600.
5. Hammond, LA has a Food Preparation Workers location quotient of 3.15. BLS lists 870 jobs and a median of $22,740 per year, or $12,580 below the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. The U.S. job estimate is 893,600.
6. Shreveport-Bossier City, LA has a Food Preparation Workers location quotient of 3.06. BLS lists 2,860 jobs and a median of $22,980 per year, or $12,340 below the U.S. Food Preparation Workers median. The U.S. job estimate is 893,600.
3. Dishwashers, SOC 35-9021, has a U.S. median of $34,810 per year. Its gap from Food Preparation Workers is $510 per year.
4. Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other, SOC 35-9099, has a U.S. median of $35,840 per year. Its gap from Food Preparation Workers is $520 per year.
5. Cooks, Short Order, SOC 35-2015, has a U.S. median of $35,880 per year. Its gap from Food Preparation Workers is $560 per year.
6. Bartenders, SOC 35-3011, has a U.S. median of $34,340 per year. Its gap from Food Preparation Workers is $980 per year.
Precise employer-title matches for Food Preparation Workers
Matched from employer-posted title terms, not a BLS classification. Confirm the listing's location because this occupation-wide set is not a U.S. place filter. A posted range never changes the official distribution above.
