Restaurant cooks are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, restaurant cooks rate their career happiness 2.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 5% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy restaurant cooks are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Bartender | 3.0 | $26k |
| Culinary chef | 2.9 | $50k |
| Barista | 2.9 | $25k |
| Caterer | 2.9 | $28k |
| Restaurant manager | 2.7 | $59k |
| Restaurant cook | 2.5 | $30k |
| Maitre d' | 2.5 | $25k |
| Food server | 2.4 | $26k |
| Food preparation worker | 2.3 | $29k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are restaurant cooks happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do restaurant cooks find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as restaurant cooks?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are restaurant cook’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are restaurant cooks making the best use of their abilities?
Are restaurant cooks happy with their salary?
Restaurant cooks rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.3/5. Most restaurant cooks do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked restaurant cooks how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.3 out of 5 stars
3557 restaurant cooks
4% of restaurant cooks rated their compensation 5 stars
13% of restaurant cooks rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of restaurant cooks rated their compensation 3 stars
28% of restaurant cooks rated their compensation 2 stars
30% of restaurant cooks rated their compensation 1 stars
Do restaurant cooks find their jobs meaningful?
On average, restaurant cooks rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.1/5. The majority of restaurant cooks struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked restaurant cooks how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.1 out of 5 stars
3567 restaurant cooks
4% of restaurant cooks rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
8% of restaurant cooks rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
18% of restaurant cooks rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
29% of restaurant cooks rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
41% of restaurant cooks rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as restaurant cooks?
Restaurant cooks rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of restaurant cooks find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked restaurant cooks how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
3808 restaurant cooks
21% of restaurant cooks rated their career fit 5 stars
34% of restaurant cooks rated their career fit 4 stars
24% of restaurant cooks rated their career fit 3 stars
13% of restaurant cooks rated their career fit 2 stars
9% of restaurant cooks rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a restaurant cook’s work environment?
As a whole, restaurant cooks rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.9/5. Some restaurant cooks are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked restaurant cooks how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
3799 restaurant cooks
10% of restaurant cooks rated their work environment 5 stars
25% of restaurant cooks rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of restaurant cooks rated their work environment 3 stars
22% of restaurant cooks rated their work environment 2 stars
16% of restaurant cooks rated their work environment 1 stars
Are restaurant cooks making the best use of their abilities?
Former restaurant cooks on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.4/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a restaurant cook.
We asked restaurant cooks how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
3808 restaurant cooks
8% of restaurant cooks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
14% of restaurant cooks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
21% of restaurant cooks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
27% of restaurant cooks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
29% of restaurant cooks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars