Cooks, Restaurant salary · Pennsylvania

Cooks, Restaurant Salary in Pennsylvania

Cooks, Restaurant in Pennsylvania earn a median of $36,580 a year, which is $17.59 an hour. That is $810 below the national median of $37,390, a difference of 2 percent. The state employs 54,100.

Median in Pennsylvania $36,580 $17.59 an hour · May 2025
US median $37,390
Jobs in Pennsylvania 54,100

Pennsylvania against the US May 2025

Cooks, Restaurant in Pennsylvania against the US, May 2025
FigurePennsylvaniaUnited States
Median annual $36,580 $37,390
Median hourly$17.59$17.98
Mean annual$35,750$38,730
10th percentile$22,650$28,700
90th percentile$45,120$47,900
Employment54,1001,409,890

How Pennsylvania compares

By median pay, Pennsylvania ranks 8 of the 12 states this site reports for cooks, restaurant. Ranking is on the published median only. It says nothing about how far that salary goes once housing, state income tax and commuting are paid, and those differences between states are frequently larger than the pay gap itself.

Other states for cooks, restaurant May 2025

StateMedianHourlyJobs
Washington $46,800 $22.50 35,140
California $44,880 $21.58 152,250
New York $43,680 $21.00 71,530
Illinois $37,580 $18.07 53,540
Florida $37,020 $17.80 124,040
Michigan $36,980 $17.78 39,100
Virginia $36,750 $17.67 40,310
Georgia $35,940 $17.28 46,350
Ohio $35,540 $17.09 46,910
North Carolina $35,400 $17.02 50,150
Texas $34,760 $16.71 126,620

Common questions

How much do cooks, restaurant make in Pennsylvania?

The median salary for cooks, restaurant in Pennsylvania is $36,580 a year, or $17.59 an hour. That is $810 below the national median of $37,390, a difference of 2 percent. Pennsylvania employs 54,100 of them.

Is Pennsylvania a good state to work as a cooks, restaurant?

On pay alone, Pennsylvania ranks 8 of the 12 states this site reports for the occupation, by median salary. Pay is only half the question though: a state with a higher median can still leave you with less once housing and taxes are counted, and this site does not adjust for cost of living.

What is the pay range for cooks, restaurant in Pennsylvania?

The lowest-paid 10 percent earn $22,650 or less and the highest-paid 10 percent earn $45,120 or more. The middle half falls between $29,890 and $39,710.

Where these numbers come from

Published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 release, for SOC code 35-2014 in Pennsylvania. Nothing on this page is interpolated or averaged by this site. See the national cooks, restaurant salary page for the full picture, or how to read these figures for what the survey covers.