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

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

All cooks not listed.

19 schools in Pennsylvania run programs that feed this job, graduating 237 people a year. The job pays a median of $36,220 in Pennsylvania across about 660 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAssistant CookFalafel Cart CookFraternity House Cook
Graduates / yr
237
in Pennsylvania
Median pay · Pennsylvania
$36,220
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
660
people employed
Schools
19
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
43%
across those schools
Median net price
$18,245
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Pennsylvania that lead to this job

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

4 programs in Pennsylvania that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Pennsylvania (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 Pennsylvania page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1184
77.6%
14$25,404$13,000
236
15.2%
3$25,404$13,000
39
3.8%
1$25,404$13,000
48
3.4%
3$25,404$13,000

Top 19 schools in Pennsylvania

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 19 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
39Culinary Arts/Chef Training$29,15556%91%
2Commonwealth Technical Institute
Johnstown, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
36Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant86%$14,343
3Walnut Hill College
Philadelphia, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
27Culinary Arts/Chef Training$25,89358%$33,54143%
4Northampton County Area Community College
Bethlehem, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
25Culinary Arts/Chef Training24%
5Montgomery County Community College
Blue Bell, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
13Culinary Arts/Chef Training$28,88528%
6Harrisburg Area Community College
Harrisburg, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
11Culinary Arts/Chef Training21%
7Jna Institute of Culinary Arts
Philadelphia, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant$18,77460%$18,245
8Pennsylvania College of Technology
Williamsport, PA Public · 2 feeder programs
11Culinary Arts/Chef Training$25,26953%
9Community College of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
10Culinary Arts/Chef Training24%
10Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Culinary Science/Culinology78%$36,00479%
11Westmoreland County Community College
Youngwood, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
9Culinary Arts/Chef Training31%
12Bucks County Community College
Newtown, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
7Culinary Arts/Chef Training32%
13Community College of Allegheny County
Pittsburgh, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
6Culinary Arts/Chef Training24%
14Laurel Technical Institute
Hermitage, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Culinary Arts/Chef Training73%$10,21285%
15YTI Career Institute - York
York, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General$28,35145%$17,792
16Lackawanna College
Scranton, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Culinary Arts/Chef Training37%$25,320
17Luzerne County Community College
Nanticoke, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant23%
18Pennsylvania Highlands Community College
Johnstown, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
2Culinary Arts/Chef Training38%
19Lehigh Carbon Community College
Schnecksville, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
1Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General30%

All 19 schools in Pennsylvania

Every school in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Indiana University of PennsylvaniaIndianaPublic391
Commonwealth Technical InstituteJohnstownPrivate not-for-profit362
Walnut Hill CollegePhiladelphiaPrivate for-profit271
Northampton County Area Community CollegeBethlehemPublic251
Montgomery County Community CollegeBlue BellPublic131
Harrisburg Area Community CollegeHarrisburgPublic111
Jna Institute of Culinary ArtsPhiladelphiaPrivate for-profit111
Pennsylvania College of TechnologyWilliamsportPublic112
Community College of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphiaPublic101
Drexel UniversityPhiladelphiaPrivate not-for-profit91
Westmoreland County Community CollegeYoungwoodPublic91
Bucks County Community CollegeNewtownPublic71
Community College of Allegheny CountyPittsburghPublic61
Laurel Technical InstituteHermitagePrivate for-profit61
YTI Career Institute - YorkYorkPrivate for-profit61

What cooks, all other earn in Pennsylvania

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

Median annual in Pennsylvania
$36,220
Mean annual
$37,850
Jobs in state
660
What the range looks like
10th pct$27,210Median$36,22090th pct$50,850
Versus the national median
-3.9%

U.S. median $37,690. Pennsylvania pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.88×

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

Metro areas in Pennsylvania

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
$38,850median
280 jobs
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
$37,300median
40 jobs
Lancaster, PA
$36,390median
40 jobs
Reading, PA
$35,020median
40 jobs
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
$32,910median
50 jobs

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 Pennsylvania

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 Pennsylvania.

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 Culinary Arts/Chef Training, which awarded 184 degrees in Pennsylvania in 2024-25, 77.6% 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 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Culinary Arts and Related Services. Together they graduate about 237 people a year in Pennsylvania.

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

The median is $36,220 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.9% below 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 Pennsylvania?+

19 institutions in Pennsylvania reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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.

Programs in PennsylvaniaCulinary Arts/Chef Training

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

All Clema data sources and release dates →

Explore every U.S. college in one conversation

Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.

Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card