Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $40K, rent takes 75.9% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $2,044/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $800/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 $33K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,008/month.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $40K locally vs. $37K nationally, a 6% difference.

Southwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area pays $40K median vs. the U.S. average of $37K — that’s +6%.

The median is $39,860 a year, that works out to about $19 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $33,470, and experienced cooks, institution and cafeterias can clear $51,600. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,693/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $2,044/month, which eats 75.9% 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.

Southwest Colorado 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 $39,860 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.