How Much Salary Can A Chef Expect?

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After graduating from any Culinary Arts School, do not be surprised to find a wide range of chef salaries from different culinary jobs being offered on the job market. Modern day chefs are working on different kitchen jobs and more often than not, these working environments also require different levels of skills.

What Are Salaries Based On?

Chef salaries are often based on varying factors. Some of these factors may be well within your control while other aspects are not. Just to be sure you land a high paying job in the culinary industry, you need to have comprehensive culinary education and training to increase your mobility potential. A culinary education will also infuse the required set of skills that will be needed for entry-level positions.

The first job you can land after graduating from culinary arts school will be as an Executive Chef. This will be your chance to establish your own culinary niche within the industry. You need to understand that the hospitality industry promotes from the inside, which means you can be able to gain incentives by simply putting your best foot forward as a new chef.

The position for Executive Chef remains the top placeholder inside the hierarchical ‘brigade’ system of any kitchen staff organization. But, even if this is the top position for kitchen employment, chef salaries for this position also widely vary depending on the workplace and the current trend in employment. For example, being the White House’s executive chef means you can earn an annual salary of almost $100,000 given the significance of this particular position. However, in ordinary employment settings, there are executive chef positions that earn about $69,000 per year.

The Best Venues for a High Pay Check

High paying chef jobs are very limited, but there are leading positions that are always available and offered usually at fine dining restaurants and international hotels and resorts. Well-established and popular companies are offering regular salaries for head chefs that range between fifty thousand dollars and one hundred thousand dollars.

The restaurant business remains to be one of the most highly competitive and it still remains as the most volatile and unpredictable sectors for chef employment. The proportion of successful chefs that achieve celebrity status is quite few, but as the population of food lovers continues to grow, the opportunity to become a millionaire chef is also increasing.

Median Chef Salaries

Line cooks, chef’s assistants, as well as other kitchen role players can be considered as the bona fide workhorses of the kitchen. More often than not, entry-level positions are not salaried, but there are establishments that offer median salaries between $8 and $15 per hour. Sous and Pastry Chefs stand in the middle of line cooks and executive chefs on pay grade scale and kitchen hierarchy. Chef salaries for this level are usually determined depending the worker’s responsibilities and job description in the kitchen. Regional economic factors must also be considered to determine the actual salary of a chef.