Food Preparation Workers salarymedian $35,320 · percentiles · top pay · projected pay in 10 years
Food Preparation Workers salary
The median annual wage for food preparation workers is $35,320 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $25,810 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $45,340. The mean annual wage is $35,290.
The mean hourly wage of $16.00 is 2.2× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Food Preparation Workers (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $35,320 → in 3 years $38,400 → in 5 years $40,500 → in 10 years $46,600 (10-year range $40,000–$54,000). The model assumes pay growth of +2.8% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
The same job in Japan
| Food Preparation Workers United States | バックヤード作業員（スーパー食品部門） Japan | 調理補助 Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median / average pay | $35,320 | ¥3.54M ≈ $22,488 | ¥3.79M ≈ $24,107 |
| Pay in 10 years (est.) | $46,600 | ¥4.48M | ¥5.35M |
| Outlook score | 42 | 40 | 61 |
| AI replacement risk | 30% Low | 29% Low | 19% Very low |
| Workers | 894K | — | — |
Matched by occupation (SOC code). Yen converted at 157.25 JPY/USD for reference; Japanese figures are averages, U.S. figures are medians, and the surveys define occupations differently.