Also called: Chef-Proprietor, Restaurateur-Chef
Owns the restaurant and runs the kitchen, betting their own money on their food.
You do everything: cook, sign paychecks, fix the walk-in cooler, court reviewers, and plan the next location. The risk is real, and many restaurants close within a few years. When it works, you have built something that is entirely yours.
Hugely variable: many owners earn little at first; successful multi-restaurant chefs earn hundreds of thousands or more.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 0 years after high school. No required path; most have a decade of cooking experience.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Self-taught, Trade school, 2-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Culinary Arts, Business Administration.
Growing faster than average.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps with costing, reviews and marketing; the food, the team and the guest experience stay human.
Classes: Culinary arts CTE, Business, Accounting.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.