Georgia·Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations·SOC 35-2019

Best Cook, All Other programs in Georgia, ranked by enrollment

All cooks not listed.

18 schools in Georgia run programs that feed this job, graduating 766 people a year. The job pays a median of $42,960 in Georgia across about 340 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAssistant CookFalafel Cart CookFraternity House Cook
Graduates / yr
766
in Georgia
Median pay · Georgia
$42,960
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
340
people employed
Schools
18
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
41%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,620
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Georgia that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in Georgia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Georgia (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Georgia page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 12.0505In Georgia
460
60.1%
16$25,404$13,000
2
CIP 12.0503In Georgia
262
34.2%
17$25,404$13,000
3
CIP 12.0500In Georgia
44
5.7%
3$25,404$13,000

Top 18 schools in Georgia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 18 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Helms College
Augusta, GA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
93Culinary Arts/Chef Training$25,26136%$23,620
2West Georgia Technical College
Waco, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
63Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant35%
3Central Georgia Technical College
Warner Robins, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
62Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant47%
4Wiregrass Georgia Technical College
Valdosta, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
61Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant50%
5Atlanta Technical College
Atlanta, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
55Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant49%
6Southern Crescent Technical College
Griffin, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
55Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant58%
7Savannah Technical College
Savannah, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
51Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant42%
8Lanier Technical College
Gainesville, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
50Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant34%
9Gwinnett Technical College
Lawrenceville, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
47Culinary Arts/Chef Training32%
10South Georgia Technical College
Americus, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
44Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant61%
11Georgia Northwestern Technical College
Rome, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
41Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant43%
12Augusta Technical College
Augusta, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
34Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant31%
13North Georgia Technical College
Clarkesville, GA Public · 3 feeder programs
27Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General$17,38339%
14Athens Technical College
Athens, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
26Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant51%
15Columbus Technical College
Columbus, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
18Culinary Arts/Chef Training27%
16Ogeechee Technical College
Statesboro, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
15Culinary Arts/Chef Training43%
17Albany Technical College
Albany, GA Public · 3 feeder programs
14Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General42%
18College of Coastal Georgia
Brunswick, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
10Culinary Arts/Chef Training26%98%

All 18 schools in Georgia

Every school in Georgia with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Georgia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Helms CollegeAugustaPrivate not-for-profit932
West Georgia Technical CollegeWacoPublic632
Central Georgia Technical CollegeWarner RobinsPublic621
Wiregrass Georgia Technical CollegeValdostaPublic612
Atlanta Technical CollegeAtlantaPublic552
Southern Crescent Technical CollegeGriffinPublic552
Savannah Technical CollegeSavannahPublic512
Lanier Technical CollegeGainesvillePublic502
Gwinnett Technical CollegeLawrencevillePublic472
South Georgia Technical CollegeAmericusPublic442
Georgia Northwestern Technical CollegeRomePublic412
Augusta Technical CollegeAugustaPublic342
North Georgia Technical CollegeClarkesvillePublic273
Athens Technical CollegeAthensPublic262
Columbus Technical CollegeColumbusPublic182

What cooks, all other earn in Georgia

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Georgia
$42,960
Mean annual
$38,780
Jobs in state
340
What the range looks like
10th pct$27,590Median$42,96090th pct$42,960
Versus the national median
+14.0%

U.S. median $37,690. Georgia pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.57×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Georgia

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
$42,960median

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+5.5%
Faster than average
Openings per year
3,700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
1,300
24,000 → 25,300
Typical entry education
No formal educational credential
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Cooks, All Other page.

How to become a Cook, All Other

Typical entry education
No formal educational credential
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Georgia

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Cooks, All Other4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 12.0500Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General
  • 12.0503Culinary Arts/Chef Training
  • 12.0505Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant
  • 12.0509Culinary Science/Culinology

Common questions

Answers for people weighing cooks, all other programs in Georgia.

What degree do you need to become a Cook, All Other?+

No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant, which awarded 460 degrees in Georgia in 2024-25, 60.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Cook, All Other?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Culinary Arts and Related Services. Together they graduate about 766 people a year in Georgia.

How much do cooks, all other earn in Georgia?+

The median is $42,960 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 14.0% above the U.S. median of $37,690. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for cooks, all other growing?+

BLS projects a +5.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 3,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Georgia?+

18 institutions in Georgia reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+

BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'Moderate-term on-the-job training' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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