Career
Food preparation workers
Prep the ingredients every dish starts with.
$35,320
Median pay
-3.0%
Job growth, 2025–35
135,700
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
- Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.
- Assist cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks as needed, and provide cooks with needed items.
- Take and record temperature of food and food storage areas, such as refrigerators and freezers.
- Carry food supplies, equipment, and utensils to and from storage and work areas.
- Remove trash and clean kitchen garbage containers.
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?
“Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Time Management, Service Orientation, Coordination.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though short-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $35,320 a year and 135,700 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Cooks, Restaurant$37,390 · +12.1%
- Cooks, Short Order$35,880 · -5.2%
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$31,200 · +5.8%
- Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$37,450 · +2.8%
- Butchers and Meat Cutters$40,140 · +2.4%
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.
Not sure this fits who you are? Start with Vocational Finder →
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.