Updated October 16, 2026

PERM occupation, SOC 35-2012, #758 of 1,410 by filings

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

1 H-1B LCAs

Biggest sponsor: Senior Management Inc · 100% of its filings
Busiest state: WI · 100% of its filings
Major group: Food preparation and serving · SOC 35

Weighing an offer for this job?

Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.

Compare my offer DOL's wage levels for this job

Too few cases for a rate

13 decided filings: too few for an approval rate.

Why

Across every PERM case DOL decided in this window, 3.20% were denied. At that rate a file this size comes back clean most of the time whatever the occupation did, so a percentage would be a fact about how few cases there are. Telling a clean record apart from the field takes about 117 decided cases.

Median wage

$28,080

all PERM $103,272

Filings

#758 of 1,410

Approval

Not shown

withheld: 13 decided

Median days

394

83 faster than the field

What it pays

Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.

Position in the field 535 occupations with 30+ decided

Median offered wage

$28,080median of 13 filings, too few decided to rank

$18k $500k

Approval rate

not shownunder 30 decided

49% 100%

Median days to decision

394 daysmiddle of 13 decided, too few to rank

323d 536d

Each bar counts occupations at that value. More

Each bar counts occupations at that value. PERM runs two labour markets through one process, which is why the wage axis is two humps rather than a bell. This occupation has 13 decided cases, so its wage and its median days are marked but left unranked, and no approval rate is drawn at all.

DOL PERM disclosure files

Who files it

The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.

Sponsors filing it

Senior Management Inc 13 filings

How this is counted

The employers with the most applications under this code. 13 of 13 filings, 100% of the total.

Firms filing it

Law Office of Nhu Muon 13 filings

How this is counted

The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 13 of 13 filings, 100% of the total.

Where the jobs are

Wisconsin 13

How this is counted

The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. This state covers 13 of 13 filings.

Where the work is

Ladysmith, WI 5
Barron, WI 4
Boscobel, WI 4

How this is counted

The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 3 cities cover 13 of 13 filings.

Who filled these jobs, FY2016 to FY2023

From DOL's old form; the form in use since mid-2023 doesn't carry them. Top six of each.

Country of citizenship

Philippines 51
South Korea 6
Brazil 4
Mexico 3
Colombia 2
Pakistan 2

Worker's education

High School 43
None 30
Bachelor's 5
Other 3
Associate's 1
Master's 1

Visa held when filed

B-2 11
NOT IN USA 10
J-1 8
F-1 7
E-2 2
EWI 2

Schools

LOBO INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOUNDATION INC. 3
NA 3
COLEGIO DE STA. CECILIA 2
INFOTECH INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES, INC. 2
NEGROS OCCIDENTAL HIGH SCHOOL 2
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS 2

Fields of study

HIGH SCHOOL 8
NA 6
GENERAL EDUCATION 3
N/A 3
BACHELOR OF ARTS MAJOR IN ENGLISH 2
HIGH SCHOOL COURSES 2

The job itself

What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.

What the job pays outside PERM BLS May 2025, DOL wage year 2026-27

United States
441,050 jobs
Northwestern Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area
Ladysmith
Western Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area
Barron
South Central Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area
Boscobel

$30k$35k$40k$45k$50k

middle half of pay (BLS)
median
10th to 90th percentile
DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
median PERM offer

Market pay and DOL wage levels, by area
Area	BLS median	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
United States	$37,450
Northwestern Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area	$37,840	$31,886	$35,069	$38,230	$41,413
Western Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area	$38,660	$34,549	$37,170	$39,770	$42,390
South Central Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area	$37,800	$31,949	$35,110	$38,293	$41,454

How these figures fit together

BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.

The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; DOL OFLC wage tables

DOL's levels for this job in Northwestern Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area, year by year

Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.

DOL wage levels by wage year, Northwestern Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area
Wage year	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
2026-27	$31,886	$35,069	$38,230	$41,413
2025-26	$30,389	$33,883	$37,398	$40,893
2024-25	$29,245	$32,406	$35,547	$38,709
2023-24	$27,165	$30,659	$34,133	$37,627
2022-23	$24,856	$28,080	$31,304	$34,528
2021-22	$22,797	$25,958	$29,099	$32,261

Every area and both wage tables in the wage-level tool.

What the job is

Prepare and cook large quantities of food for institutions, such as schools, hospitals, or cafeterias.

Preparation: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed; O*NET Job Zone 1-2
DOL's education basis: None; Wage year 2026-27
Jobs, 2025 to 2035: +2.8%; About 62,900 openings a year (BLS)
Typical entry: No formal educational credential; BLS

The work, most important first

Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.
Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or numbers of portions to be served.
Rotate and store food supplies.
Wash pots, pans, dishes, utensils, or other cooking equipment.
Apportion and serve food to facility residents, employees, or patrons.
Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.

The education workers in it report

High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)

71%
Post-Secondary Certificate

14%
Some College Courses

6%
Bachelor's Degree

7%

Titles people use for it

Cafeteria Cook, Cook, Dietary Cook, School Cook, Dinner Cook, Food Service Specialist, Food Service Worker, Prep Cook (Preparatory Cook).

This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Against other jobs

Where this sits in the ranking

Ranked 758 of 1,410 by volume: 757 filed at least as many filings, and 652 filed no more.

Just above: WELDING, SOLDERING, AND BRAZEN MACHINE SETTERS, OPERATORS 13 filings
Just below: Telemarketers 12 filings

Other food preparation and serving roles

Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More

Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.

The same job on H-1B

1 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $39,166 a year; the middle half ran $39,166 to $39,166. By state and year in the salary explorer.

Notes on these numbers

Reading the wage

A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.

What the median is

The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.

What these numbers don't say

4 notes

The code is the identity: This one is SOC 35-2012. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
A median isn’t an offer: It's the middle of all 13 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
Approval isn’t about the occupation: The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
Nothing here is pending: All 13 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is Senior Management Inc. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.

The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built

Weighing an offer?

Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.

Setting one?

All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.

Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.

Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly

Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load

O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year

BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring

BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn

DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july

What each source includes

Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.

Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.

O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.

BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.

BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.

DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.

Cite this page

Waiting on a PERM case?

When it'll likely be decided
An email when DOL moves it