SOC 35-2021.00Bright outlook

    Food Preparation Workers

    Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.

    Median pay
    $35,320
    Growth
    -3.0%
    Decline
    Openings a year
    135,700
    Typical education
    No formal credential

    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
    $25,810
    Median
    $35,320
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $45,340
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    893,600 people work in this occupation.

    What food preparation workers do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.

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

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R) · strongest
    90 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    6 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    15 / 100
    Social (S)
    28 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    21 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    53 / 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 RCS. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Getting Information
    74
    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    67
    Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
    65
    Performing General Physical Activities
    61
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    60
    Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates
    60
    Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information
    59
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    57
    Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
    56
    Handling and Moving Objects
    56
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Active Listening
    • Service Orientation
    • Time Management
    • Coordination
    • Speaking
    • Critical Thinking
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Social Perceptiveness
    • Monitoring
    • Judgment and Decision Making

    Knowledge

    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Food Production
    • Production and Processing
    • English Language
    • Administration and Management
    • Psychology
    • Education and Training
    • Public Safety and Security
    • Administrative
    • Personnel and Human Resources

    Abilities

    • Near Vision
    • Oral Comprehension
    • Trunk Strength
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
    • Finger Dexterity
    • Manual Dexterity
    • Oral Expression
    • Speech Clarity
    • Speech Recognition
    • Information Ordering

    Work styles

    • Dependability
    • Attention to Detail
    • Cautiousness
    • Cooperation
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Self-Control
    • Integrity
    • Perseverance
    • Humility
    • Optimism

    Also called

    Back of House Team Member (BOH Team Member) · Cafeteria Aide · Carver · Caterer · Caterer Helper · Catering Assistant · Chicken and Fish Butcher · Coffee Brewer · Coffee Maker · Cold Meat Cook

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What food preparation workers may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Certifications

    Core certifications employers recognise for this work.

    Search all certifications on CareerOneStop

    Licenses by state

    1 state lists a license for this work. Open your state for the license and the agency that issues it.

    Check license requirements on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Your plan

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    Courses, majors, colleges, scholarships and a timeline for this career, built from your profile.

    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

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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.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.