Headline risk
21%
Moderate RiskCooks, all other
United States AI Work Index tracks this occupation on the shared structural baseline and then layers on local demand resilience, wages, and confidence.
Why This Score
Share of job tasks that overlap with current AI capabilities
Median annual wage
Projected employment change over 10 years
Typical preparation needed for this occupation
Occupation profile
All cooks not listed separately.
Task evidence
Task primitive coverage is not published for this occupation.
Scores combine AI task overlap, human advantages, and local demand. How it works
United States Now
Median Wage
USD 36,210
Employment 2024
24.0K
Projected Change (2024–34)
5.5%
Openings (2024–34)
3.7K
Wage distribution
Demand outlook
Overall employment of cooks is projected to grow 5 percent from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations.
Role Profile
Requirements
Worker profile
Median age 46.4 · 5.5M employed
Under 25: 3% · 25–54: 69% · 55+: 28%
Related
No direct US role match is available yet for this occupation.
Source coverage
7/11 source families · O*NET 30.2 / OEWS 2024 / ORS 2025 / OOH 2025-08-28 / Projections 2024-34 / CPS 2025 / Anthropic task penetration
Mapping quality
major_group_fallback · employment series present
Narrative & sources
Cooks season and prepare foods, including soups, salads, entrees, and desserts.
Cooks work in restaurants, schools, hospitals, private households, and other places where food is prepared and served. Their work hours may include early mornings, late evenings, holidays, and weekends. Most cooks work full time, although part-time work is common.
Cooks typically learn their skills through on-the-job training and related work experience. Although no formal education is required, some cooks attend culinary school.
The median hourly wage for cooks was $17.19 in May 2024.
Overall employment of cooks is projected to grow 5 percent from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations.
Published limitations
This page shows the local country layer, not realised individual job outcomes. The global structural baseline is shared across countries; only the local demand and wage layer changes here.
Built from O*NET occupation descriptions, task statements, technology skills, work context, Job Zones, Anthropic task penetration, BLS OEWS wages, BLS projection tables, BLS ORS requirements, BLS OOH narrative content, BLS skills data, and BLS CPS occupation age tables.