Average Chefs And Head Cooks Salary in State College, PA

Chefs And Head Cooks in State College, PA earn a median annual salary of $56,170, which is -7.9% compared to the national median. There are 70 workers employed locally in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates for State College, PA (metro area).

$56,170

State College, PA median annual wage

$27/hour median

-7.9%

Difference vs national median

National median is $60,990

Local employment

1.0 jobs per 1,000 workers

0.82

Location quotient

Above 1.00 means the occupation is more concentrated here than nationally

Pay distribution

Local wage range

10th: $36,510
25th: $46,600
Median: $56,170
75th: $72,680
90th: $82,380

All values are percentiles of annual wages.

This local range is the useful part of the page. The median tells you the center of the market in State College, PA, while the percentile band shows how compressed or wide the local pay distribution actually is.

Regional price parity

Cost-of-living context

All-items regional price parity

96.8%

Exact metro RPP match

Median wage adjusted to the national price level

$58,050

Goods: 100.7%
Services: 109.5%
Rents: 85.7%

Comparison links

Comparable metros for this occupation

Metro	Median annual wage	Compare	Employment
Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$87,410	Compare	160
Morgantown, WV	$87,280	Compare	60
Terre Haute, IN	$83,880	Compare	50
Alexandria, LA	$80,290	Compare	50
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$78,390	Compare	1,020
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$78,050	Compare	1,180

The point of this table is not random nearby places. It is to show the other labor markets where this same occupation looks stronger or weaker on the same OEWS release.

Area context

Top occupations in State College, PA

Occupation	Median annual wage	LQ
Computer And Information Systems Managers	$181,570	1.23
Dentists, General	$178,010	0.68
Chief Executives	$172,160	0.93
Architectural And Engineering Managers	$147,480	1.40
Marketing Managers	$138,450	0.91
Information Security Analysts	$137,730	0.91
Pharmacists	$133,370	0.98
Nurse Practitioners	$127,610	0.86

State College, PA has salary data for 252 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Computer And Information Systems Managers.

Historical series

Trend for Chefs And Head Cooks in State College, PA

Historical trend data is not yet available for this occupation in this area.

Interpretation

Outlook and page notes

Nationally, Chefs And Head Cooks are projected to change by +7.1% from 2024 to 2034, with 24,400 annual openings.

Use this page to answer three separate questions: what the occupation pays here, how large the local market is, and whether this market is unusually concentrated for the occupation.

For metro pages in particular, read long-term trend rows as directional until the area comparability layer is fully wired. OEWS area definitions can change over time, and that matters more at the metro level than at the state level.