Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 35-2014, #80 of 1,410 by filings
Cooks, Restaurant
- Biggest sponsor
- LA COSECHA XVII, LLC · 2% of its filings
- Busiest state
- GA · 22% 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.
Median wage
$33,051
all PERM $103,272
Filings
793
#80 of 1,410
Approval
92.8%
field 96.8%
Median days
388
89 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.
Median offered wage
$33,051above 15%
Approval rate
92.8%ahead of 25%
Median days to decision
388 daysahead of 83%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
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
- LA COSECHA XVII, LLC 17 filings
- LA COSECHA XII, LLC 16 filings
- LA COSECHA XIX, LLC 15 filings
- LA COSECHA XV, LLC 12 filings
- Jareonsub Inc. 10 filings
- LA COSECHA II, LLC 10 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 80 of 793 filings, 10% of the total.
Firms filing it
- Aum Lee, LLC 175 filings · 100.0% approved
- White and Shepherd, LLP 40 filings · 100.0% approved
- Law Office of Li Wei P C 25 filings
- Law Offices of Yong Men, P.C. 16 filings
- Karam Law 10 filings
- Law Office of Jake Tuimaualuga 10 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 276 of 793 filings, 35% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- Georgia 173
- California 116
- Texas 60
- Massachusetts 44
- Oregon 35
- Colorado 30
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. These 6 states cover 458 of 793 filings.
Where the work is
- Atlanta, GA 24
- Macon, GA 18
- McDonough, GA 16
- Marietta, GA 15
- Portland, OR 15
- San Diego, CA 15
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 103 of 793 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
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
- China 1,290
- South Korea 884
- Thailand 845
- Mexico 467
- Nepal 328
- Brazil 215
Worker's education
- None 4,909
- High School 686
- Bachelor's 197
- Other 162
- Associate's 124
- Master's 28
Visa held when filed
- NOT IN USA 1,173
- F-1 921
- E-2 453
- B-2 392
- EWI 279
- F-2 121
Schools
- N/A 96
- NA 40
- THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA 12
- TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY 12
- CITRUS COLLEGE 4
- DE LA SALLE COLLEGE OF SAINT BENILDE 4
Fields of study
- GENERAL 137
- N/A 115
- HIGH SCHOOL 91
- GENERAL EDUCATION 70
- NA 61
- CULINARY ARTS 40
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.
- United States1,409,890 jobs
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAAtlanta, McDonough, Marietta
- Macon-Bibb County, GAMacon
- Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAPortland
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CASan Diego
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $37,390 | ||||
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $37,230 | $27,810 | $31,782 | $35,734 | $39,707 |
| Macon-Bibb County, GA | $31,650 | $25,397 | $28,662 | $31,949 | $35,214 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $45,200 | $37,523 | $41,850 | $46,197 | $50,523 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $46,440 | $39,250 | $42,494 | $45,739 | $48,984 |
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
DOL's levels for this job in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, 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.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $27,810 | $31,782 | $35,734 | $39,707 |
| 2025-26 | $26,666 | $30,638 | $34,611 | $38,584 |
| 2024-25 | $23,234 | $27,310 | $31,387 | $35,464 |
| 2023-24 | $20,114 | $24,731 | $29,328 | $33,946 |
| 2022-23 | $20,987 | $24,898 | $28,808 | $32,718 |
| 2021-22 | $21,570 | $24,669 | $27,768 | $30,867 |
What the job is
Prepare, season, and cook dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, or desserts in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu.
- 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
- +12.1%
- About 218,600 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- No formal educational credential
- Less than 5 years of related work (BLS)
Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for rapid growth and numerous job openings.
The work, most important first
- Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
- Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
- Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
- Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
- Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
- Coordinate and supervise work of kitchen staff.
The education workers in it report
- 34%
Less than a High School Diploma
- 47%
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 6%
Some College Courses
- 12%
Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
Titles people use for it
Banquet Cook, Grill Cook, Line Cook, Prep Cook (Preparation Cook), Back Line Cook, Breakfast Cook, Cook, Fry Cook.
Related jobs: Cooks, Short Order, Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria, Food Preparation Workers, Bakers, Cooks, Fast Food, Butchers and Meat Cutters.
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 80 of 1,410 by volume: 79 filed at least as many filings, and 1,330 filed no more.
- Just above
- Manicurists and Pedicurists 794 filings
- Just below
- Industrial Engineers 791 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.
- #108 Waiters and Waitresses 497 filings · 41 denied
- #51 Food Preparation Workers 1,284 filings · 45 denied
- #47 Chefs and Head Cooks 1,340 filings · 56 denied
- #118 Cooks, Fast Food 452 filings · 33 denied
- #127 Food Preparation Worker 406 filings · 36 denied
- #129 First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers 405 filings · 18 denied
The same job on H-1B
56 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $41,600 a year; the middle half ran $31,200 to $46,218. 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 35-2014. 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 793 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, Restaurant. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 793 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 LA COSECHA XVII, LLC. 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