If you love cooking then perhaps you would want to know how much does a chef make? According to the Wage estimates conducted by the US department of Labor, Bureau of labor and statistics in 2006, various chefs and head cooks were located in different industries. Getting the average of all of those industries where you can find a chef or head cook working at, we can get a mean (average) hourly wage of $18.21 only amounting to the mean (average) annual wage of $38K only but if we based on the statistics conducted by The National pay data updated last June 22, 2010, the median annual salary of a chef sums up to $42,399 – $65,693 with a bonus amounting to $1,244 – $7,727 annually. In a year, the total net pay of a chef can sum up to $68,277 and more.

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An Executive chef can have a different amount of salary depending on the completion of education that he attained. In the United States we can see below the following top degrees of education by an Executive chef with an accumulated Salary range.
Top Degrees And Salary Range
Associate Degree, Culinary Arts $43, 306$60,788
Associate of Arts (AA) $46,799-$69,138
Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS),
Culinary Arts $43,727-$68,009
Associate of Applied Science (AAS) $41,013-$59,995
Bachelor of Arts (BA/AB) $43,531-$68,72
Chefs and head cooks that can be found in Full service restaurants earned $17.15 per hour with an annual mean wage of $36K. Those who works in the hotels and lodgings makes $21per hour with an annual mean wage of $44K while those who stays in cruises earns a mean hourly wage of $19 with an annual mean wage of $39K. In a more comprehensive data by PayScale, an Executive Chef's Salary ranges from $41,604 – $68,277 while an Executive Chef working in a hotel can earn from $46,485-$79,628, on the other hand a General Manager (still a chef) in a Restaurant earns from $37,669-$59,747 and a chef in charge for Food and Beverage earns from $44,593-$78,188.
There is a big difference of salary range too when talking about the industries wherein chefs can work at. Some popular employers in the United States such as the Aramark Corporation has the Salary range starting from $47,666-$67,748 in a year, then the Compass Group USA Inc., gives $40,807-$61,516 annually, however if you work in Sodexo, Inc., will have the range between $45,615-$60,129 in a year, the Hilton Hotels Corporation has the salary range that range from $44,937-$ 69,181 and the Sodexho Marriott Services, Inc., has the salary ranging from $45,913- $66,474.
Chefs can be seen in various industries as long as there is a need for people to eat, expect there will be a chef in that place. Here are the top five popular industries where exist an increase of chef's services.
Popular Industries And Salary Range
Restaurant(s) $ 43,513-$66,312
Food Service $ 43,028-$65,764
Hotel/Hotel(s) $ 41,977-$ 63,866
Golf Course $42,499- $66,018
Catering $ 42,506-$64,667
It's not that much compared to what a normal individual thinks but the being a chef is a noble and fun thing to do and no money can compensate the happiness that you can have on the things you are passionate about.