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Boston Career Explorer

Food Preparation and Serving Related

Cooks, Restaurant

Prepare, season, and cook dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, or desserts in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu.

Also called: Back Line Cook, Banquet Cook, Breakfast Cook, Cook, Fry Cook, Grill Cook

Compare with my current job (Bakers)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$45,830
$22.03/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
22,900
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+14.3%
5,420 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
No formal educational credential
plus Moderate-term on-the-job training; Less than 5 years of related work experience

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$36,810$39,400$45,830$49,390$58,690

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
  • Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
  • Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
  • Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
  • Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
  • Coordinate and supervise work of kitchen staff.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Lower exposure25 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 25
  • Language-model AIOE 25
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 26

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

Restaurant cooking has lower AI exposure, and observed AI use is little or none. Most of the work is hands-on: cooking, seasoning, plating, and cleaning. AI tools may help with back-office tasks like ordering supplies, keeping records, or planning menus, but they do not do the cooking.

Likely to change

  • Ordering supplies and keeping records
  • Pricing items and planning menus

Still relies on people

  • Seasoning and cooking by taste and experience
  • Cleaning and food safety in the kitchen

What federal projections say

“Demand change - share increases as consumers demand more high-quality food options.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Butchers and Meat Cutters

    Your food handling, portioning, and freshness checks carry over to cutting and preparing meat. The job pays a Boston median of $48,910 and has lower AI exposure.

    Pay difference
    +$3,080 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +2.5%
    To get started
    No formal educational credential

  • Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

    Watching temperatures and adjusting settings is like running ovens and grills. This machine work pays a Boston median of $47,730 and has lower AI exposure.

    Pay difference
    +$1,900 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +2.9%
    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

  • Maintenance and Repair Workers, General

    Checking and keeping equipment in working order carries over. The move offers a higher Boston median pay of $59,670 and moderate-term on-the-job training.

    Pay difference
    +$13,840 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +5.2%
    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

3 programs near Boston

Related occupations

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