Chef
Hospitality & Tourism
Create menus, run a kitchen, and lead a team under pressure.
Why it matters here: Strong restaurant scene from Silver Spring to DC.
Labor Market — DMV Region
Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.
Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.
- DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
- Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org
All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.
Education & Career Pathways
Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.
Career Progression
How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.
- Entry-level ChefLearning the role, supervised work, building core skills.$50,140
- Chef (experienced)Independent work, mentoring newer team members.$64,220
- Senior / Lead ChefOwning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.$82,840
- Manager or specialist trackSupervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.$99,408
Skills Required
What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.
Hot commercial kitchen, nights and weekends, high pressure
Where you work
A commercial kitchen — hot, loud, tight — with stations, a pass, and a walk-in you'll visit a hundred times.
Hours and schedule
Nights, weekends and holidays are the busiest times. Shifts often run ten to twelve hours, split between prep and service.
Pace and pressure
Calm prep in the afternoon, then total intensity during service when every ticket has a clock on it.
Who you work with
A brigade where each station depends on the others; the expediter's calls run the line.
Physical demands
Standing the entire shift, heat, burns and cuts, heavy lifting, repetitive knife work.
What people wear
Chef coat or kitchen uniform, apron, non-slip shoes, hair restraint.
Remote reality
None.
Workplace culture: what's normal here
- You call back every order you hear — silence on the line is how mistakes happen.
- Mise en place before service is non-negotiable; being unprepared affects everyone.
- The old culture of screaming kitchens is fading, and better restaurants now recruit on respect.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Work Environment, with regional detail for the DMV.
Official data behind this career
Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)
- The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
- The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.
Top places these workers go to work
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year
Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.
Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report
- 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
- 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
- 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
- 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.
Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.
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