Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products. Excludes “Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders” (51-3091).
National median · BLS
$41,590
▲ +2.56%YoY
H-1B sponsor median
—
Too few H-1B filings
Average salary · BLS
$42,570
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
31,250
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.
Pay range for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation.
Percentile
All U.S. workers (BLS)
10th — entry pay
$31,680
25th
$36,190
Median (50th)
$41,590
75th
$47,380
90th — top pay
$54,410
Hourly ⇄ annual pay
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Monthly—
Every 2 weeks—
Weekly—
Daily—
Based on
hrs/week ×
weeks/year
= 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035
Job outlook for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
BLS projects employment of food cooking machine operators and tenders to decline 0.3% from 2025 to 2035, while employment across all occupations grows 3.5%.
About 3,700 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.
Jobs 2025 → 2035
31,200 → 31,200
-100 jobs
Projected change
-0.3%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
3,700
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
No related experience required
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 2)
Very Little to Some Preparation Needed. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders salaries by state
BLS state medians, plus the same figure adjusted for local prices (BEA Regional Price Parities). Tap a state for its full range and H-1B pay.
State
Median
Jobs
Cost-adjusted
Profile
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders salaries by metro area
Search by city, ZIP code or metro name. Tap a metro for its full range.
Metro area
Median
Jobs
Cost-adjusted
Profile
Skills & tools
Skills needed for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.
Top skills
Operations Monitoring3.5
Monitoring3.1
Operation and Control3.1
Reading Comprehension3.1
Active Listening3.0
Critical Thinking3.0
Complex Problem Solving2.9
Coordination2.9
Judgment and Decision Making2.8
Quality Control Analysis2.8
Top knowledge areas
Production and Processing4.3
Food Production3.8
Administration and Management3.3
Education and Training3.1
Mechanical3.1
English Language2.8
Computers and Electronics2.6
Customer and Personal Service2.6
Software and technology used
Database software
Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).
Source: 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. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
About the job
What food cooking machine operators and tenders do
Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.
Read work orders, recipes, or formulas to determine cooking times and temperatures, and ingredient specifications.
Observe gauges, dials, and product characteristics, and adjust controls to maintain appropriate temperature, pressure, and flow of ingredients.
Measure or weigh ingredients, using scales or measuring containers.
Tend or operate and control equipment, such as kettles, cookers, vats and tanks, and boilers, to cook ingredients or prepare products for further processing.
Record production and test data, such as processing steps, temperature and steam readings, cooking time, batches processed, and test results.
Set temperature, pressure, and time controls, and start conveyers, machines, or pumps.
Remove cooked material or products from equipment.
Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.
Similar jobs and how they pay
Occupations O*NET lists as closely related to Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders, with BLS national medians compared with this occupation's $41,590.
