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Average Cooks, Fast Food Salary in Missouri

Cooks, Fast Food in Missouri earn a median annual salary of $29,890, which is -3.2% compared to the national median. There are 55,780 workers employed locally in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for Missouri (state).

$29,890
Missouri median annual wage
$14/hour median
-3.2%
Difference vs national median
National median is $30,890
55,780
Local employment
19.0 jobs per 1,000 workers
4.61
Location quotient
Above 1.00 means the occupation is more concentrated here than nationally
Pay distribution

Local wage range

10th
$28,600
25th
$28,790
Median
$29,890
75th
$31,080
90th
$35,290

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 Missouri, 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
90.8%
Exact state RPP match
Median wage adjusted to the national price level
$32,912
Goods: 96.3%
Services: 79.4%
Rents: 69.9%
Comparison links

Comparable states for this occupation

State Median annual wage Compare Employment
Hawaii $48,120 Compare N/A
District of Columbia $44,670 Compare 2,760
California $42,050 Compare 124,440
Washington $39,120 Compare 9,020
New Hampshire $38,590 Compare 1,330
Vermont $38,230 Compare 640

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 Missouri

Occupation Median annual wage LQ
Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric $842,800 N/A
Cardiologists $648,070 0.47
Emergency Medicine Physicians $456,280 N/A
Orthodontists $332,630 N/A
Psychiatrists $312,680 0.45
Physicians, Pathologists $261,830 N/A
Nurse Anesthetists $242,630 1.58
Dentists, All Other Specialists $230,130 0.31

Missouri has salary data for 750 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric.

Historical series

Trend for Cooks, Fast Food in Missouri

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

Interpretation

Outlook and page notes

Nationally, Cooks, Fast Food are projected to change by -13.5% from 2024 to 2034, with 82,100 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.