Food Preparation and Serving Related
Cooks, Short Order
Prepare and cook to order a variety of foods that require only a short preparation time. May take orders from customers and serve patrons at counters or tables.
Also called: Broiler Cook, Cook, Deli Cook (Delicatessen Cook), Food and Beverage Attendant, Grill Cook, Line Cook
- Median pay in Greater Boston
- $39,600
- $19.04/hr
- Jobs in Greater Boston
- 4,460
- Massachusetts 2024–2034
- −6.4%
- 560 openings a year
- Typical U.S. entry requirement
- No formal educational credential
- plus Short-term on-the-job training
Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.
Pay range in Greater Boston
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $32,550 | $33,400 | $39,600 | $50,950 | $53,780 |
10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.
What you’d do
- Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables.
- Restock kitchen supplies, rotate food, and stamp the time and date on food in coolers.
- Complete orders from steam tables, placing food on plates and serving customers at tables or counters.
- Plan work on orders so that items served together are finished at the same time.
- Grill, cook, and fry foods such as french fries, eggs, and pancakes.
- Perform food preparation tasks, such as making sandwiches, carving meats, making soups or salads, baking breads or desserts, and brewing coffee or tea.
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 exposure21 of 100
The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:
- AIOE 30
- Language-model AIOE 31
- GPTs-are-GPTs 3
Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)
Short order cooking has lower AI exposure, and observed AI use is little or none. The core work is fast, hands-on cooking and serving, plus cleaning and restocking, which AI tools do not do. Taking orders is the kind of task that software may help with or change.
Likely to change
- Taking and relaying customer orders
- Tracking stock and supplies
Still relies on people
- Grilling and frying food to order
- Timing orders to finish together
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
Fast, careful food handling and portioning carry over to meat cutting. The job pays a Boston median of $48,910, above the $39,600 for short order cooks.
- Pay difference
- +$9,310 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
Adjusting heat, timing, and ingredient flow is familiar from cooking. This machine work pays a Boston median of $47,730 and has lower AI exposure.
- Pay difference
- +$8,130 median
- AI exposure
- Lower
- MA growth
- +2.9%
- To get started
- High school diploma or equivalent
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
Weighing, checking, and labeling products builds on kitchen routines. It pays a Boston median of $44,390 and is projected to grow 6.1% in Massachusetts.
- Pay difference
- +$4,790 median
- AI exposure
- Lower
- MA growth
- +6.1%
- 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).
No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.
Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.
Related occupations
Talk to a career coach
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