Money · 1 of 5
What restaurant cooks make
Typical line cook
$37,390
First kitchen job
$28,700
Lead cook or sous chef
$47,900
The national median is $37,390 a year and the bottom tenth are near $28,700. This figure is for Cooks, Restaurant. It does not include chefs and head cooks, who are counted separately and paid considerably more, so this is the pay for the job you actually start in.