Private Chef salary: $47,940 median, and how to negotiate yours.
The full pay range by percentile, the state estimates BLS publishes, the top-paying metro areas and similar roles, from the latest BLS survey. Place your own offer on the range.
Hourly pay, BLS May 2025: 10th percentile $17.35 · 25th $19.54 · median $23.05 · 75th $26.66 · 90th $43.81.
The median annual wage for cooks, private household in the United States was $47,940 in May 2025 (BLS). The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $36,090 and the top 10% earned more than $91,130. That median is 0.9 times the $50,980 median for all occupations. BLS publishes a state median for only 1 state for this occupation.
Data Government data groups this job as Cooks, Private Household (O*NET-SOC 35-2013.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
- 10th percentile
- $36,090
- lowest-paid 10% earn less
- 25th percentile
- $40,630
- a quarter earn less
- 75th percentile
- $55,450
- a quarter earn more
- 90th percentile
- $91,130
- top 10% earn more
More on private chef pay
The median hourly wage for workers in the BLS occupation “Cooks, Private Household” in the United States was $23.05 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
The middle half of workers in the BLS occupation “Cooks, Private Household” in the United States earned between $40,630 and $55,450 a year in May 2025 (25th to 75th percentile, BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
The lowest-paid 10% of workers in the BLS occupation “Cooks, Private Household” in the United States earned less than $36,090 a year in May 2025, and the top 10% more than $91,130 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
The mean annual wage for workers in the BLS occupation “Cooks, Private Household” in the United States was $53,680 in May 2025, according to BLS; the mean is a different measure from the median.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
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
Private Chef salary by state: what BLS publishes
Data BLS state estimates, May 2025. 1 state publishes a median for this occupation; together it employs 13% of the 1,100 private chefs BLS counts nationally. Every state without a published median is listed below with its BLS status.
State medians BLS publishes for this occupation: New York $37,440. Too few states to rank.
- BLS publishes employment but no wage estimate: California (110 employed).
- no estimate in BLS's May 2025 state file: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
How the pay compares
Data National medians for related occupations (O*NET related roles, BLS pay).
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Our view If you cite market data, cite this page's source: the BLS median for your state and the percentile your offer sits at. A specific, sourced number is easier to agree to than a feeling.
How this page is built
Wages are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates for May 2025 (national, state and metropolitan area), for the occupation shown. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include base pay, commissions, production bonuses and tips, and exclude overtime, shift differentials, non-production bonuses and benefits. Percentiles describe all workers in the occupation, not entry or senior levels.
- Pay at a specific employer, or for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Experience level: percentiles are not seniority bands.
- Equity, bonuses outside OEWS's definition, and benefits.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
- 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.
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