Culinary Arts degree salary: what graduates earn, from federal data.
Associate's graduates in Culinary Arts and Related Services: national earnings 1 to 7 years after completing, the spread across 119 programs, federal debt, and pay in 11 related occupations.
13,581 federal-aid graduates working and not enrolled, field 12.05
College Scorecard reports that associate's graduates in Culinary Arts and Related Services who received federal financial aid had median earnings of $40,715 five years after completing (2024 dollars), with the middle half of graduates between $26,985 and $54,780. The figure covers 13,581 graduates who were working and not enrolled. It describes past federal-aid graduates; it is not a figure for every culinary arts graduate and not a salary offer. Bachelor's graduates in the same field: $47,793.
- Median earnings, 5 years after
- $40,715
- national, 2024 dollars
- Middle 50% of graduates
- $26,985–$54,780
- 25th to 75th percentile
- Graduates measured
- 13,581
- working, not enrolled
- Credential level
- Associate's
- field 12.05: Culinary Arts and Related Services
- Population
- associate's graduates in Culinary Arts and Related Services with federal aid, working and not enrolled
- Classes
- Completed 2016-17 or 2017-18; earnings in 2022 and 2023
- Source
- College Scorecard, updated Oct 15, 2026
4 credential levels in Culinary Arts and Related Services
Data Each bar is Scorecard's national median for that credential level, 5 years after completing. They are different programs and graduates, not a before-and-after.
Associate's graduates, by time since completing
Data Each row is a different graduating class, all measured in 2022 and 2023. Read across rows as a snapshot, not as one class's career path.
| Time after completing | Median | Middle 50% | Graduates measured | Graduating classes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year after | $34,674 | $23,123–$45,897 | 6,112 | completed in 2020-21 or 2021-22 |
| 4 years after | $39,605 | $26,731–$52,757 | 9,779 | completed in 2017-18 or 2018-19 |
| 5 years after | $40,715 | $26,985–$54,780 | 13,581 | completed in 2016-17 or 2017-18 |
| 7 years after | $42,905 | $28,138–$58,544 | 16,885 | completed in 2014-15 or 2015-16 |
How much it varies by college, and what borrowers owed
Data Program-level figures: each program reports its own median, and these ranges describe the middle half of programs.
Middle half of the 119 associate's programs in this field that report 5-year earnings, ranked by each program's own median (the middle program: $39,684). This is a spread of program medians, not of graduates, and it is not the national median.
Middle half of the 36 programs that report it, using each program's median federal Direct and Grad PLUS debt for borrowers who completed in 2022-23 or 2023-24 (middle program: $13,750). Excludes private loans, Parent PLUS loans and interest, so it often understates what is owed; it describes borrowers only, not all graduates.
What jobs related to this field pay
Data Occupations the NCES/BLS crosswalk relates to these programs, with BLS pay and projected growth. Graduates can work anywhere; the crosswalk records preparation, not outcomes.
$40,715 median, associate's graduates in Culinary Arts and Related Services, 5 years after completing, federal-aid graduates only (2024 dollars).
BLS median wages (May 2025) for everyone in the occupations below, whatever they studied. Not the same people, period or measure as the graduate figure.
| Occupation | BLS median pay | Employed | Growth 2025–35 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line Cook | $37,390 | 1,409,890 | +12.1% | Salary data |
| First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | $44,080 | 1,223,240 | +5.4% | |
| Bartender | $34,340 | 756,390 | +5.0% | Salary data |
| Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria | $37,450 | 441,050 | +2.8% | |
| Food Service Manager | $69,390 | 238,430 | +5.8% | |
| Baker | $37,160 | 236,200 | +5.5% | Salary data |
| Chef | $62,470 | 200,040 | +6.6% | Salary data |
| Butchers and Meat Cutters | $40,140 | 136,430 | +2.4% |
Is a culinary arts degree worth it? What the data can and cannot say
Data No score and no verdict: the decision depends on costs and plans this data does not see.
Associate's graduates in Culinary Arts and Related Services: $40,715 median five years out, $34,674 for the class one year out and $42,905 seven years out; the middle half of 36 programs reported median federal debt of $12,000-$16,342.
Your tuition and aid, private loans, time out of work, taxes, lifetime pay, job fit, or what you would earn without the degree.
Common questions
How much do culinary arts majors make?
Is a culinary arts degree worth it?
Why do culinary arts salary figures differ between sites?
How this page is built
Scorecard measures earnings for graduates who received federal financial aid (Title IV grants or loans) and were working and not enrolled in school, as the sum of W-2 wages and positive self-employment earnings, adjusted to 2024 dollars. National figures are Scorecard's own medians and percentiles for 4-digit CIP field 12.05 (Culinary Arts and Related Services) at each credential level; TryHired does not combine or average them. Program ranges are quartiles of the program medians Scorecard publishes for each college. Debt is cumulative federal Direct (Stafford) and Grad PLUS loans disbursed at the reporting institution. Privacy-suppressed values are not shown or estimated. Searches this page answers include “culinary arts degree salary”, “is a culinary degree worth it”, “culinary degree salary” (Ahrefs, U.S.).
- Graduates without federal aid, or who were enrolled, not working or deceased in the measurement year.
- Tuition paid, private loans, interest, taxes, lifetime earnings, cause and effect, or any individual's outcome.
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study data (Most-Recent-Cohorts-Field-of-Study, data updated Oct 15, 2026; retrieved Oct 25, 2026) and technical documentation (October 2026).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, occupational projections 2025–35.
Highest-earning majors
Compare culinary arts with every major by graduate earnings.