Updated October 16, 2026

PERM occupation, SOC 35-2021.00, #51 of 1,410 by filings

Food Preparation Workers

Biggest sponsor: FH Miami Operations LLC · 11% of its filings
Busiest state: FL · 29% 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

This rate is level with the field

Over 1,240 decided filings, this rate can't be told apart from the field in either direction.

Why

The 95% interval runs up to a 4.8% denial rate, which still covers the 3.20% the field as a whole records.

Median wage

$27,300

all PERM $103,272

Filings

1,284

#51 of 1,410

Approval

96.4%

field 96.8%

Median days

483

6 slower 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

$27,300above 6%

$18k $500k

Approval rate

96.4%ahead of 48%

49% 100%

Median days to decision

483 daysahead of 29%

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. The line marks this one.

DOL PERM disclosure files

The wage ladder, year by year Food Preparation Workers, certified offers

5th to 95th
25th to 75th
Median
10th and 90th

FY2024

$26,000 median · 100 certified cases
FY2025

$25,979 median · 578 certified cases
FY2026

$27,664 median · 516 certified cases

$15k$20k$25k$30k$35k$40k

10th: $24,211; -3.0% since FY2024
Median: $27,664; +6.4% since FY2024
90th: $35,110; +3.3% since FY2024
95th: $37,440; +10.1% since FY2024

These years are not measuring the same group of filings. The count moves by 5.8 times between the largest year and the smallest, so a change in the ladder is at least partly a change in which employers filed rather than a change in what the work pays. Read the shape, not the difference.

Offered wage percentiles by fiscal year, with the number of certified cases behind each row.
Fiscal year	Cases	5th	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	95th
FY2024	100	$20,488	$24,960	$26,000	$26,000	$26,416	$34,000	$34,010
FY2025	578	$20,097	$21,320	$22,152	$25,979	$31,200	$34,486	$36,000
FY2026	516	$23,660	$24,211	$26,000	$27,664	$32,760	$35,110	$37,440

A median answers whether pay moved. More

A median answers whether pay moved. The whole ladder answers which part of it moved, and those are not the same question: a distribution can hold its middle while its top stretches away.

DOL PERM disclosure files, certified cases only

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

FH Miami Operations LLC 136 filings · 100.0% approved
Lizard's Thicket, Inc. 71 filings · 100.0% approved
BH Acquisition Company, LLC 47 filings · 100.0% approved
Big Splash Restaurant Group, LLC 41 filings · 100.0% approved
Fast N Friendly LLC 31 filings · 67.7% approved
RP Restaurant, LLC 29 filings

How this is counted

The employers with the most applications under this code. 355 of 1,284 filings, 28% of the total.

Firms filing it

Momentum Immigration 312 filings · 100.0% approved
DEVEER CONSULTING, LLC 136 filings · 100.0% approved
DELAFUENTE LAW LLC 59 filings · 100.0% approved
Law Offices of Andrew P. Johnson, Esq. 54 filings · 100.0% approved
LAW OFFICES OF CHANG RYUL JI, PC 43 filings · 100.0% approved
American International & Immigration Law, PC 40 filings · 75.0% approved

How this is counted

The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 644 of 1,284 filings, 50% of the total.

Where the jobs are

Florida 376
California 142
South Carolina 102
Virginia 69
Illinois 62
Texas 62

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 813 of 1,284 filings.

Where the work is

Miami Beach, FL 137
Columbia, SC 71
St. Augustine, FL 70
Chicago, IL 56
Lake Buena Vista, FL 47
Orlando, FL 43

How this is counted

The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 424 of 1,284 filings.

Newspapers it advertised in

Miami Herald

137 cases
The Washington Post

79 cases
The State Paper (South Carolina)

71 cases
St Augustine Record

68 cases
Orlando Sentinel

63 cases
Chicago Sun-Times

58 cases

How this is counted

The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.

How long before filing it began

Under 30 days

0.0%
30 to 59 days

0.3%
60 to 89 days

29%
90 to 119 days

30%
120 to 149 days

15%
150 to 180 days

23%
Over 180 days

1.7%

How this is counted

Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.

Where every PERM employer recruits

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

Mongolia 4
South Korea 4
Philippines 3
Mexico 2
Peru 2
Vietnam 2

Worker's education

None 12
High School 8
Bachelor's 1

Visa held when filed

B-2 6
F-1 6
NOT IN USA 4
B-1 1
R-2 1

Schools

MONGOLIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 2
CHEONGJU GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL 1
GOV. FELICIANO LEVISTE MEMORIAL NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL 1
GUAGUA NATIONAL COLLEGES 1
LICEO SUPERIOR LATINOAMERICANO 1
MALINTA NATIONAL HIGHSCHOOL 1

Fields of study

HIGH SCHOOL 3
GENERAL EDUCATION 2
AUTOMOBILE AND AUTOSERVICE 1
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA 1
INDUSTRIAL MECHANIZATION 1

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
893,600 jobs
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Miami Beach
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
Lake Buena Vista, Orlando
Columbia, SC
Columbia
Jacksonville, FL
St. Augustine
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
Chicago

$30k$40k

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	$35,320
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$36,090	$29,453	$32,469	$35,464	$38,480
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$35,600	$28,787	$31,678	$34,570	$37,461
Columbia, SC	$30,260	$24,357	$27,893	$31,408	$34,944
Jacksonville, FL	$36,730	$29,744	$32,635	$35,526	$38,418
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$35,410	$30,930	$33,946	$36,941	$39,957

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 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, 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, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Wage year	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
2026-27	$29,453	$32,469	$35,464	$38,480
2025-26	$29,120	$32,053	$35,006	$37,939
2024-25	$27,664	$30,472	$33,259	$36,067
2023-24	$25,979	$28,787	$31,595	$34,403
2022-23	$22,984	$26,166	$29,349	$32,531
2021-22	$21,486	$24,398	$27,310	$30,222

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

What the job is

Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.

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: -3.0%; About 135,700 openings a year (BLS)
Typical entry: No formal educational credential; BLS

Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for numerous job openings.

The work, most important first

Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.
Assist cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks as needed, and provide cooks with needed items.
Take and record temperature of food and food storage areas, such as refrigerators and freezers.
Carry food supplies, equipment, and utensils to and from storage and work areas.
Remove trash and clean kitchen garbage containers.
Store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage.

Titles people use for it

Cook, Deli Clerk (Delicatessen Clerk), Dietary Aide, Food Service Worker (FSW), Cook Aide, Diet Aide, Food Prep (Food Preparer), Food Service Aide.

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 51 of 1,410 by volume: 50 filed at least as many filings, and 1,359 filed no more.

Just above: Manufacturing Engineers 1,301 filings
Just below: 132011.01, Accountants 1,207 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.

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 35-2021.00. 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 1,284 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 Food Preparation Workers. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
Nothing here is pending: All 1,284 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 FH Miami Operations 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