Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, aged to 2026 using compounded market movement. State selections show BLS state-level figures where published. Actual pay varies with experience, industry, and organization size.
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders salary by state
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders is a professional role in the Production job family, focused on Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders work. Pay for this title reflects both its level and its scope; see our Title Level and Organization Responsibility guides for how WePayFairly defines them.
What Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenderss do
Typical education: High School Diploma
Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.
Read work orders, recipes, or formulas to determine cooking times and temperatures, and ingredient specifications.
Observe gauges, dials, and product characteristics, and adjust controls to maintain appropriate temperature, pressure, and flow of ingredients.
Measure or weigh ingredients, using scales or measuring containers.
Tend or operate and control equipment, such as kettles, cookers, vats and tanks, and boilers, to cook ingredients or prepare products for further processing.
Top skills:Operations MonitoringReading ComprehensionOperation and ControlMonitoringCritical ThinkingActive Listening
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders salary by industry
Sectors 31, 32, and 33 – Manufacturing
25,130 workers
$45,000
Accommodation and Food Services
2,990 workers
$40,500
Wholesale Trade
1,600 workers
$41,500
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
870 workers
$39,000
Sectors 44 and 45 – Retail Trade
470 workers
$41,000
National sector-level figures, BLS OEWS May 2025, aged to 2026.
How this role compares
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders pays 20% below the average across 105 roles in the Production job family (family average $55,000).
