Career
Bakers
Bake breads, pastries and more.
$37,160
Median pay
+5.5%
Job growth, 2025–35
36,500
Openings a year
No formal educational credential
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job 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.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Measure or weigh flour or other ingredients to prepare batters, doughs, fillings, or icings, using scales or graduated containers.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Time Management, Judgment and Decision Making, Monitoring.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $37,160 a year and 36,500 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Baking and Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry ChefCIP 12.0501
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Food Batchmakers$42,290 · +6.5%
- Chefs and Head Cooks$62,470 · +6.6%
- Cooks, Restaurant$37,390 · +12.1%
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders$41,590 · -0.3%
- Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders$44,810 · +0.4%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.