Culinary Arts
Personal & Culinary Services · federal classification: Culinary Arts and Related Services
Median earnings by degree level
| Degree | Median earnings | Typical range | Schools | Clear the bar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma | $32,439 | $25,126 to $37,502 | 83 | 34% |
| Associate's Degree | $38,176 | $34,500 to $41,560 | 108 | 69% |
| Bachelor's Degree | $47,701 | $42,500 to $51,802 | 12 | 100% |
"Clear the bar" is the share of programs whose graduates out-earn a typical high-school graduate (the federal earnings-premium test). Typical range is the 25th to 75th percentile of program medians.
Job outlook
Projected employment growth +5% (2025 to 2035), about 718,800 openings a year across the occupations this field commonly leads to.
| Occupation | Median pay | Growth | Openings/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooks, Restaurant | $37,390 | +12.1% | 218,600 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | $44,080 | +5.4% | 171,500 |
| Bartenders | $34,340 | +5% | 121,200 |
| Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria | $37,450 | +2.8% | 62,900 |
| Food Service Managers | $69,390 | +5.8% | 38,800 |
| Bakers | $37,160 | +5.5% | 36,500 |
Occupation pay and outlook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wages, Employment Projections). A field maps to several occupations, and the same occupations serve many majors, so these are the jobs this major commonly leads to, not positions reserved for its graduates; the openings should not be added up across majors.
Where this is studied
The 8 colleges where the most students complete a culinary arts program, of 560 that report one. Ordered by number of completions only: this is where people study it, not a judgement about where to.
- Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder
- NUC University
- Culinary Institute of America
- Institute of Culinary Education
- Johnson & Wales University-Providence
- Valencia College
- Institute of Culinary Education
- Ivy Tech Community College
Earnings source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (release 2026-06-10), median earnings of graduates measured up to four years after completing. Figures describe past graduates and are never a promise. Method: methodology. Report an error.