Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $46K, rent takes 50.3% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,583/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $900/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new cooks, institution and cafeterias typically earn — is $36K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,174/month.

Local pay is 22% above the national median — $46K here vs. $37K nationally.

Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area pays $46K median vs. the U.S. average of $37K — that’s +22%.

The median is $45,770 a year, that works out to about $22 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $36,230, and experienced cooks, institution and cafeterias can clear $58,880. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,148/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,583/month, which eats 50.3% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median cooks, institution and cafeteria salary is worth about $45,770 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.