In the US, chefs and head cooks earned a median of $62,470 a year in May 2025, or $30.03 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top 10 percent earned more than $98,560. In Switzerland, a cook with a three-year apprenticeship can't legally be paid less than CHF 4'528 a month in 2026 (about US$5,500), thirteen times a year.
Below you'll find the US figures by job and workplace, the Swiss minimums by qualification, and the honest answer to a question we get a lot: how much does an executive chef or a sous chef make? Swiss amounts are converted to dollars at the October 2026 rate of about US$1.21 per franc.
How much does a chef make in the US?
The BLS counts executive chefs, head chefs and sous chefs together as "chefs and head cooks". There were 220,300 of these jobs in 2025. Their pay in May 2025:
| Chefs and head cooks, US, May 2025 | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Lowest 10 percent earned less than | $37,900 |
| Median | $62,470 ($30.03 an hour) |
| Highest 10 percent earned more than | $98,560 |
Where you cook changes the median noticeably:
| Workplace | Median annual pay, May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Traveler accommodation (hotels, resorts) | $74,380 |
| Amusement, gambling and recreation | $72,830 |
| Restaurants and other food services | $60,580 |
| Healthcare and social assistance | $59,550 |
Cooks earn a good deal less. The BLS median for all cooks was $17.62 an hour in May 2025, and $17.98 for restaurant cooks. That gap between cook and chef is the reason training and experience matter so much in this trade.
Executive chef salary
There's no official US figure for executive chefs alone, and you should be wary of any site that quotes one to the dollar as if it came from the government. The BLS describes executive chefs as the people who oversee a kitchen's operation and coordinate the work of sous chefs and cooks. They sit inside the chefs and head cooks group above.
What the official data does show is where the money is. Hotels and resorts pay chefs the highest median of any workplace, $74,380 in May 2025, and the top tenth of the whole group earns more than $98,560. An executive chef job also usually comes after years in the kitchen: the BLS lists five years or more of related work experience as typical for entering the occupation.
Sous chef salary
The sous chef is the kitchen's second-in-command: they supervise the cooks, prepare meals and report to the head chef. Sous chefs are also counted in the chefs and head cooks group, so there's no separate official median. In practice the role is the step between line cook (about $18 an hour at the BLS restaurant-cook median) and head chef, and pay usually falls between the two.
How much does a chef earn in Switzerland?
Swiss hospitality wages start from minimums fixed in the national collective labour agreement for hotels and restaurants, the L-GAV. The minimum depends on your qualification. These are the 2026 figures for a 42-hour week:
| Qualification (L-GAV category) | Minimum per month, 2026 | About, in US$ |
|---|---|---|
| No vocational training | CHF 3'713 | US$4,500 |
| Progresso course (5 weeks) | CHF 3'943 | US$4,800 |
| Two-year vocational certificate (EBA) | CHF 4'070 | US$4,900 |
| Three-year apprenticeship (EFZ), e.g. a qualified cook | CHF 4'528 | US$5,500 |
| Apprenticeship plus 6 days of job-specific further training | CHF 4'635 | US$5,600 |
| Federal professional examination (Berufsprüfung) | CHF 5'293 | US$6,400 |
Gross monthly minimums. Swiss hospitality staff also receive a 13th monthly salary, so a qualified cook's minimum is CHF 58'864 a year (about US$71,000). The L-GAV has been under renegotiation since the end of 2025.
Two things stand out. First, qualifications are written into the pay scale: a federal professional exam lifts the floor by more than CHF 760 a month over an apprenticeship. Second, these are floors. Head chefs and executive chefs in Swiss hotels negotiate above them, and we haven't found an official published figure for those roles, so we don't quote one.
Culinary students have their own rate. Interns from recognised schools are entitled to a gross minimum of CHF 2'390 a month (2027 rate, about US$2,900), before board, lodging and social insurance. At BHMS that's six months of every programme year. Read how the paid internships work.
Can you compare US and Swiss chef pay directly?
Not cleanly. The US figure is a median of what chefs actually earn; the Swiss figures are legal minimums, so real Swiss pay for an experienced chef sits above them. Switzerland also pays thirteen salaries a year and has much higher living costs, while US pay varies widely by state and city. Use both as a sense of scale, not as a like-for-like ranking.
What raises a chef's salary?
- Experience in demanding kitchens. Five years or more is typical before a head chef role.
- The type of employer. Hotels and resorts top the US medians; large hotel kitchens also have the most senior positions.
- Formal qualifications. In Switzerland they're built into the minimum wage table itself.
- Management skills. Executive chefs run budgets, food costs, staffing and menus. That's why culinary degrees add business modules in the later years.
That last point is where a culinary management degree earns its keep. The final year of the BA in Culinary Arts at BHMS covers managing culinary resources, food service management and entrepreneurship, after two years in the kitchens and two paid placements. Our alumni include the executive head chef of one of Budapest's grandest hotels; you can read their paths on the careers page.
Is there demand for chefs?
Yes. The BLS projects employment of chefs and head cooks to grow 7 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations, with about 25,200 openings a year. Cook jobs are projected to grow at the same rate.
What this means for you
The jump from cook to chef is the big one in this career, and it's driven by skill, experience and the ability to run a kitchen. If you want to see how to get there, read our guide on how to become a chef, compare what culinary school costs, or go straight to the programmes in Lucerne, also described in the culinary arts overview on bhms.ch.