Cooks, Fast Food vs Dishwashers: $31K vs $35K Median Pay

Cooks, Fast Food vs Dishwashers: what changes?

Consider Cooks, Fast Food if you want to prepare and cook food in a fast food restaurant with a limited menu. Consider Dishwashers if you would rather clean dishes, kitchen, food preparation equipment, or utensils. 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 Dishwashers. 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

Dishwashers

National median pay (2025): $34,810
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: Wash dishes, glassware, flatware, pots, or pans, using dishwashers or by hand.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 68,900

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Dishwashers brief

How the national numbers differ

Cooks, Fast Food has the edge on projected growth

Cooks, Fast Food is at 0.6% projected growth, compared with -1% projected growth for Dishwashers.

Dishwashers has the edge on median pay

Dishwashers is at $34,810, 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 68,900 annual openings for Dishwashers.

47.8/ 100

Cooks, Fast Food

46.1/ 100

Dishwashers

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