SOC 51-3093.00

    Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders

    Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.

    Median pay
    $41,590
    Growth
    -0.3%
    Little or no change
    Openings a year
    3,700
    Typical education
    High school diploma

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

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    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $31,680
    Median
    $41,590
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $54,410
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    31,250 people work in this occupation.

    What food cooking machine operators and tenders do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R) · strongest
    97 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    16 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    2 / 100
    Social (S)
    6 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    11 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    61 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code RCI. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Documenting/Recording Information
    80
    Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
    79
    Getting Information
    79
    Controlling Machines and Processes
    79
    Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
    78
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    76
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    75
    Handling and Moving Objects
    74
    Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information
    71
    Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
    66
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Operations Monitoring
    • Monitoring
    • Operation and Control
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Active Listening
    • Critical Thinking
    • Complex Problem Solving
    • Coordination
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Quality Control Analysis

    Knowledge

    • Production and Processing
    • Food Production
    • Administration and Management
    • Education and Training
    • Mechanical
    • English Language
    • Computers and Electronics
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Personnel and Human Resources
    • Chemistry

    Abilities

    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Oral Comprehension
    • Written Comprehension
    • Near Vision
    • Control Precision
    • Information Ordering
    • Selective Attention
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
    • Finger Dexterity
    • Manual Dexterity

    Work styles

    • Dependability
    • Attention to Detail
    • Cautiousness
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Self-Control
    • Integrity
    • Perseverance
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Cooperation
    • Adaptability

    Also called

    Bakery Fryer · Blanching Machine Operator · Boiler · Brine Maker · Casing Cooker · Chip Fryer · Chocolate Temperer · Coconut Boiler · Confectionery Cooker · Cook Box Filler

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    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.