Food Preparation Workers
SOC 35-2021 · 2024-2034
Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
The job this trains for
- Typical pay in California
- $40,347per year
- Projected openings
- 195,850
- Projected change
- +1%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Numerous Job Openings
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Time Management
- Service Orientation
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $45,374 | 11,300 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $44,490 | 960 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $42,216 | 11,670 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $41,970 | 2,430 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $40,644 | 1,330 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $40,165 | 10,730 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $39,769 | 1,680 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $39,286 | 9,400 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $39,214 | 14,930 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $39,070 | 16,690 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $38,864 | 1,450 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $38,657 | 55,920 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $38,617 | 19,330 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $38,350 | 860 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $38,237 | 2,710 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $38,083 | 1,080 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $38,062 | 1,260 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $37,939 | 1,450 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $37,579 | 2,160 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $37,527 | 3,460 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $37,332 | 450 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $37,250 | 3,790 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $37,147 | 1,000 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $36,931 | 610 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $36,797 | 600 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $36,736 | 3,410 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $36,694 | 750 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $36,139 | 730 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $36,139 | 1,880 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $36,088 | 570 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $35,615 | 1,490 |
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| The job this trains for | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooks, Restaurant | $46,017 | 271,050 | +18.5% |
| Cooks, Short Order | $44,017 | 43,610 | -2.3% |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $43,351 | 1,105,280 | +9.9% |
| Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria | $47,565 | 51,210 | +9.9% |
| Butchers and Meat Cutters | $45,301 | 23,600 | +5.3% |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $43,115 | 159,630 | -10.3% |
Leads to — 1
Cake Decoration (2) (Spanish)
International College · Valencia · $5,100