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Role hub · Cooks, Private Household

Private Chef: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 4, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of private chefs earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$47,940
Hourly
$23.05
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Private Chefs prepare meals in private homes. The median pay is $47,940 a year ($23.05 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a post-secondary certificate (38% of occupation experts surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$47,940
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
1,100
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation
Most common education
Post-Secondary Certificate
38% of occupation experts

Data Government data groups this job as Cooks, Private Household (O*NET-SOC 35-2013.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Key facts

Private Chefs at a glance

  • Workers in the BLS occupation “Cooks, Private Household” in the United States earned a median annual wage of $47,940 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a postsecondary nondegree award as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “Cooks, Private Household” in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of workers in the BLS occupation “Cooks, Private Household” in the United States to grow 5.1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,000 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 1,100 people were employed in the BLS occupation “Cooks, Private Household” in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Private Chefs

SalaryPrivate Chef salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomePrivate Chef how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →Interview questionsPrivate Chef interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What private chefs do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by occupation experts (O*NET).

  1. Peel, wash, trim, and cook vegetables and meats, and bake breads and pastries.
  2. Cool, package, label, and freeze foods for later consumption and provide instructions for reheating.
  3. Plan menus according to employers' needs and diet restrictions.
  4. Shop for or order food and kitchen supplies and equipment.
  5. Prepare meals in private homes according to employers' recipes or tastes, handling all meals for the family and possibly for other household staff.
  6. Keep records pertaining to menus, finances, and other business-related issues.
  7. Stock, organize, and clean kitchens and cooking utensils.
  8. Direct the operation and organization of kitchens and all food-related activities, including the presentation and serving of food.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Critical ThinkingcoreService OrientationcoreSocial PerceptivenesscoreComplex Problem SolvingJudgment and Decision MakingTime ManagementReading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeaking

Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, Food Production, Sales and Marketing, Administration and Management, Production and Processing, Mathematics.

Tools and technology

Software private chefs use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • WordPressWeb page creation and editing softwareHot technology
  • Food inventory softwareInventory management software
  • YouTubeVideo creation and editing software
  • Intuit QuickBooksAccounting softwareHot technology
  • APPCA Personal Chef OfficeData base user interface and query software
  • Cooking e-booksData base user interface and query software
  • Cost tracking softwareAccounting software
  • Email softwareElectronic mail software
  • Web browser softwareInternet browser software
  • Work scheduling softwareCalendar and scheduling software

Also called: Certified Personal Chef (CPC), Personal Chef, Personal Private Chef.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.