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Also called boarding house cook, cafeteria cook, camp cook and cook.
$37,450
Median pay a year
441,050
People do this work
6
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Pay and headcount are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lines are written from what the US Department of Labor records about this work.
An example
A Institution and Cafeteria Cook resume, filled in
Every line below comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Institution and Cafeteria Cook
Summary
Cook preparing and cooking large quantities of food for institutions, monitoring food safety, cleaning kitchen areas, serving meals, training new staff, and managing inventory of supplies and equipment
Experience
Institution and Cafeteria Cook
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Cooked food according to menus and special dietary needs for facility residents and employees
Monitored and recorded food temperatures to ensure food safety in the kitchen
Cleaned and inspected kitchen equipment and work areas to keep them clean and working well
Washed pots, pans, dishes, and utensils used in food preparation
Served food to residents, employees, and patrons in the facility
Trained new employees on cooking and food service tasks
Took inventory of food supplies and kitchen equipment for future needs
Skills
Core Skills
Monitoring food services, Recording production data, Determining menu item prices, Planning menu options, Moving equipment, Serving food and beverages, Inspecting facilities, Maintaining equipment inventories
Hands-On Work
Cleaning equipment, Cleaning tableware
Education
High School Diploma Your school, Year
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Checked food temperatures for safetyCooked food for meals and dietsStored and rotated food suppliesWashed pots, pans, and dishesServed food to residents and staffCleaned kitchen and cooking equipment
becomes
On your resume
Monitored and recorded food temperatures to ensure safety and compliance with health standards.
Stored and rotated food supplies to maintain freshness and minimize waste.
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Show what improved once the food temperatures were monitored.
The line
Monitored and recorded food temperatures to ensure safety, making food safer for residents
Show what improved once the food temperatures were monitored.
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Food was safer for residentsMeals were served without delays
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Add how often you rotated food supplies.
The line
Stored and rotated food supplies to maintain freshness and minimize waste.
Add how often you rotated food supplies.
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Every few daysAt least once a weekRegularly throughout the month
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What it is made of
Skills for an Institution and Cafeteria Cook resume
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What are you good at?
Monitoring food services
Inspecting facilities
Recording production data
Maintaining equipment inventories
Determining menu item prices
Planning menu options
Cleaning equipment
Cleaning tableware
Moving equipment
Serving food and beverages
Storing kitchen supplies
Cutting foods
The work itself
What an Institution and Cafeteria Cook does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Prepare and cook large quantities of food for institutions, such as schools, hospitals, or cafeterias.
What it pays
How much does an Institution and Cafeteria Cook make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$32,440
Median
$37,450
75th percentile
$44,800
About 441,050 people do this work in the United States.
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If you served
Military jobs this work counts as
From the crosswalk the US Department of Labor publishes itself. If one of these was your job, this page is about the civilian work it maps to.
3F111 Services Helper
501 Culinary Specialist
4D011 Diet Therapy Helper
3F131 Services Apprentice
3F151 Services Journeyman
4D071 Diet Therapy Craftsman
4D031 Diet Therapy Apprentice
4D051 Diet Therapy Journeyman
3381 Food Service Specialist
3300 Basic Food Service Marine
68M Nutrition Care Specialist
R01A Leading Culinary Specialist
and 6 more service codes map here
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This page is about the occupation Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. Rung is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either agency. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.