Sous Chef Salary (April 2024)

Updated March 14, 2024

Average sous chef salary

$48,716

$23.42 hourly rate

Entry-level sous chef salary

$33,000 yearly salary

$33,00010%$48,716Median$70,00090%

How much does a sous chef make?

The average sous chef salary in the United States is $48,716. Sous chef salaries typically range between $33,000 and $70,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for sous chefs is $23.42 per hour.

Sous chef salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Sous chefs earn the highest average salary in Hawaii.

On This Page

Sous chef salary by:

Average sous chef salary by state

The highest-paying states for sous chefs are Hawaii, New Jersey, and California. The lowest average sous chef salary states are Iowa, Mississippi, and Wisconsin.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Highest paying states for sous chefs

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Nevada	$54,340	$26.13	71
2	Hawaii	$70,943	$34.11	12
3	District of Columbia	$55,632	$26.75	67
4	Massachusetts	$55,116	$26.50	152
5	Alaska	$50,364	$24.21	61
6	California	$58,125	$27.94	424
7	New Jersey	$67,942	$32.66	90
8	Texas	$47,953	$23.05	427
9	North Dakota	$48,678	$23.40	16
10	Washington	$53,403	$25.67	98
11	New York	$52,890	$25.43	227
12	Wyoming	$45,496	$21.87	18
13	Rhode Island	$53,924	$25.93	14
14	Pennsylvania	$48,695	$23.41	157
15	New Hampshire	$46,813	$22.51	36
16	Arizona	$45,879	$22.06	194
17	Georgia	$45,771	$22.01	232
18	Illinois	$51,258	$24.64	128
19	Virginia	$48,014	$23.08	190
20	North Carolina	$45,147	$21.71	195
21	Florida	$45,541	$21.89	449
22	Michigan	$43,845	$21.08	141
23	Oklahoma	$44,939	$21.61	44
24	Maryland	$50,508	$24.28	82
25	Oregon	$47,260	$22.72	48
26	Colorado	$44,173	$21.24	132
27	Indiana	$42,080	$20.23	116
28	Maine	$43,764	$21.04	18
29	Alabama	$43,319	$20.83	57
30	Tennessee	$40,242	$19.35	113
31	Minnesota	$42,127	$20.25	110
32	Montana	$40,252	$19.35	44
33	South Carolina	$40,090	$19.27	89
34	Missouri	$41,980	$20.18	80
35	Connecticut	$42,688	$20.52	52
36	Ohio	$40,210	$19.33	120
37	Delaware	$43,560	$20.94	13
38	Arkansas	$41,234	$19.82	19
39	New Mexico	$41,502	$19.95	9
40	Utah	$37,204	$17.89	87
41	South Dakota	$39,869	$19.17	10
42	Mississippi	$37,889	$18.22	42
43	Louisiana	$38,780	$18.64	40
44	Idaho	$38,212	$18.37	27
45	West Virginia	$38,677	$18.59	15
46	Nebraska	$38,856	$18.68	26
47	Kentucky	$38,245	$18.39	39
48	Wisconsin	$37,869	$18.21	74
49	Iowa	$37,929	$18.24	33
50	Vermont	$36,850	$17.72	9
51	Kansas	$35,573	$17.10	16

Recent job searches

Highest paying cities for sous chefs

The highest-paying cities for sous chefs are Atlantic City, NJ, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, DC.

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Atlantic City, NJ	$67,560	$32.48	5
2	San Francisco, CA	$59,531	$28.62	10
3	Washington, DC	$55,672	$26.77	43
4	Boston, MA	$55,053	$26.47	40
5	Las Vegas, NV	$54,323	$26.12	40
6	Seattle, WA	$53,706	$25.82	19
7	New York, NY	$53,085	$25.52	120
8	Chicago, IL	$51,353	$24.69	39
9	Philadelphia, PA	$49,301	$23.70	15
10	McLean, VA	$48,986	$23.55	7
11	Austin, TX	$48,365	$23.25	40
12	Portland, OR	$46,945	$22.57	11
13	Miami, FL	$46,356	$22.29	35
14	Columbus, GA	$46,046	$22.14	2
15	Phoenix, AZ	$45,921	$22.08	24
16	Raleigh, NC	$45,334	$21.80	8
17	Portland, ME	$44,432	$21.36	11
18	Colorado Springs, CO	$44,414	$21.35	2
19	Detroit, MI	$44,011	$21.16	10
20	Minneapolis, MN	$42,170	$20.27	22

Sous Chefs are the most in-demand in these five cities:

Sous Chef salary by years of experience

A sous chef with 0-2 years of experience earns an average entry-level salary of $48,374. A mid-career sous chef with 3-6 years of experience makes $48,716 a year on average. A senior level sous chef with 7-12 years of experience enjoys an average annual salary of $56,900.

Sous Chef salary details

A sous chef's salary ranges from $33,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $70,000 at the 90th percentile.

Sous Chef Salary (April 2024) - Zippia (2)

What is a sous chef's salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$70,000	$5,833	$34
75th Percentile	$59,000	$4,917	$28
Average	$48,716	$4,060	$23
25th Percentile	$40,000	$3,333	$19
10th Percentile	$33,000	$2,750	$16

Highest paying sous chef jobs

The highest paying types of sous chefs are executive chef, chef de cuisine, and private chef.

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Cook	$31,803	$2,650	$15.29	184,818
Food Service Coordinator	$32,085	$2,674	$15.43	79,537
Line Cook	$32,895	$2,741	$15.81	168,993
Chef De Cuisine	$51,926	$4,327	$24.96	18,300
Chef De Partie	$39,938	$3,328	$19.20	18,913
Chef/Catering	$47,693	$3,974	$22.93	20,512

Top companies hiring sous chefs now:

Which companies pay sous chefs the most?

Sous chef salaries at RH and Apple are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average sous chef salary at companies like Baptist Health and Club are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	RH	$80,048	$38.48
2	Apple	$70,686	$33.98
3	Baptist Health	$66,698	$32.07
4	Club	$62,513	$30.05
5	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$61,273	$29.46
6	Bertucci's	$61,168	$29.41
7	SL Green Realty	$60,564	$29.12
8	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$60,355	$29.02
9	Bay Head Yacht Club	$59,596	$28.65
10	Sprenger Health Care System	$59,551	$28.63
11	Aspen Snowmass	$59,518	$28.61
12	Kohler Co.	$59,437	$28.58
13	The Halal Guys	$59,253	$28.49
14	BKD LLP	$58,553	$28.15
15	bartaco	$58,489	$28.12
16	Norman Regional Health System	$58,478	$28.11
17	J.F. Shea Co	$58,473	$28.11
18	Goodwin Recruiting	$58,420	$28.09
19	Resorts World Catskills	$58,305	$28.03
20	Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise	$58,214	$27.99

Sous Chef salary by industry

The average sous chef salary varies across industries:

The average sous chef salary in the government industry is $52,076, the highest of any industry.
The average sous chef salary in the finance industry is $48,600.
Sous chefs in the retail industry earn an average salary of $40,995, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for sous chefs

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Government	$52,076	$25.04
2	Hospitality	$48,600	$23.37
3	Manufacturing	$44,244	$21.27
4	Retail	$40,995	$19.71

High Paying Sous Chef Jobs

Sous Chef salary trends

The average sous chef salary has risen by $10,067 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average sous chef earned $38,649 annually, but today, they earn $48,716 a year. That works out to a 24% change in pay for sous chefs over the last decade.

Compare sous chef salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average sous chef salary over time

Compare sous chef salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Sous Chef salary by year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2024	$48,700	$23.42	+3.5%
2023	$47,000	$22.61	+6.0%
2022	$44,200	$21.26	+5.2%
2021	$41,900	$20.16	+6.0%
2020	$39,400	$18.95	+3.9%

Recently added sous chef salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Wagamama	Sous Chef	Arlington, VA	07/04/2023	$63,000
Global Partners	Sous Chef	Middlebury, CT	07/03/2023	$50,000
Great Wolf Lodge	Sous Chef	LaGrange, GA	07/03/2023	$65,000
Wegmans Food Markets	Sous Chef	King of Prussia, PA	07/03/2023	$58,340
Wegmans Food Markets	Sous Chef	Montvale, NJ	07/03/2023	$76,204
Benchmark	Banquets Sous Chef Annual-Corporate Hotel and Training Center	Westlake, TX	07/03/2023	$52,000
Soho House & Co	Sous Chef Ludlow House	New York, NY	07/03/2023	$65,000
Chotto Matte-San Francisco	Sous Chef	San Francisco, CA	07/03/2023	$75,000
Brookdale Senior Living	Sous Chef	Midland, TX	07/02/2023	$33,705
Hyatt Hotels Corp	Sous Chef	New York, NY	07/02/2023	$56,000

Sous Chef salary FAQs

What state pays Sous Chefs the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Sous Chef?

What is a good starting salary for a Sous Chef?

Have more questions?

See all answers to common food preparation and restaurant questions.

Search for sous chef jobs

Sous Chef Related Salaries

Sous Chef Related Careers

Sous Chef Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Zippia Careers
Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Sous Chef
Sous Chef Salary