Cooks, Fast Food vs Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria: $31K vs $37K Median Pay

Cooks, Fast Food vs Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria: what changes?

Consider Cooks, Fast Food if you want to prepare and cook food in a fast food restaurant with a limited menu. Consider Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria if you would rather prepare and cook large quantities of food for institutions, such as schools, hospitals, or cafeterias. Both list no formal educational credential; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Cooks, Fast Food and Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Cooks, Fast Food

National median pay (2025): $30,890
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Order and take delivery of supplies.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 86,400

Know before you choose

BLS projects essentially flat employment (0.6%) through 2035. Annual openings mostly reflect replacement, not a rapidly expanding field.

See the full Cooks, Fast Food brief

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

National median pay (2025): $37,450
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 62,900

Know before you choose

Long periods of standing are part of the normal workday.

See the full Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria brief

How the national numbers differ

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria has the edge on projected growth

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria is at 2.8% projected growth, compared with 0.6% projected growth for Cooks, Fast Food.

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria has the edge on median pay

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria is at $37,450, compared with $30,890 for Cooks, Fast Food.

Cooks, Fast Food has the edge on annual openings

Cooks, Fast Food is at 86,400 annual openings, compared with 62,900 annual openings for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria.

47.8/ 100

Cooks, Fast Food

54/ 100

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence