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Boston Career Explorer

Production

Bakers

Mix and bake ingredients to produce breads, rolls, cookies, cakes, pies, pastries, or other baked goods.

Also called: Bakery Worker, Bread Baker, Cake Baker, Cake Decorator, Dough Mixer, Mixer

Median pay in Greater Boston
$38,570
$18.54/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
4,380
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+8.1%
920 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
No formal educational credential
plus Moderate-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

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$35,720$36,820$38,570$46,130$48,300

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

What you’d do

  • Measure or weigh flour or other ingredients to prepare batters, doughs, fillings, or icings, using scales or graduated containers.
  • Set oven temperatures, and place items into hot ovens for baking.
  • Check products for quality, and identify damaged or expired goods.
  • Check equipment to ensure that it meets health and safety regulations, and perform maintenance or cleaning, as necessary.
  • Adapt the quantity of ingredients to match the amount of items to be baked.
  • Place dough in pans, molds, or on sheets, and bake in production ovens or on grills.

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 exposure32 of 100

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

  • AIOE 36
  • Language-model AIOE 34
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 26

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

AI exposure for this job is lower, and observed AI use is little or none. AI tools could help with scaling recipes and tracking ingredients or expired goods. They do not mix dough, run ovens, or judge how a finished product looks and tastes.

Likely to change

  • Scaling recipes for different batch sizes
  • Tracking ingredients and expired goods

Still relies on people

  • Mixing, shaping, and baking by hand
  • Judging quality by look, smell, and taste

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.

  • Cooks, Restaurant

    Oven temperature control and clean food-handling carry over to restaurant cooking. It offers higher pay and strong projected growth (14.3%).

    Pay difference
    +$7,260 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +14.3%
    To get started
    No formal educational credential

  • Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

    Measuring ingredients, following recipes, and food safety carry over to cafeteria cooking, which has a higher Boston median pay of $48,530.

    Pay difference
    +$9,960 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +4.7%
    To get started
    No formal educational credential

  • Butchers and Meat Cutters

    Weighing, preparing, and displaying food products carry over to butchering. It offers higher pay, with a Boston median of $48,910.

    Pay difference
    +$10,340 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +2.5%
    To get started
    No formal educational credential

Training near Boston

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

4 programs near Boston

Related occupations

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