PublicPayData

California public employers · 2026 pay · 29 people

How much does an assistant cook make in California public employers?

$30,713typical pay for a assistant cook in 2026

$16,154 – $53,347what most people earned

Includes everyone paid during 2026, including part-year workers. Each employer counts with its latest published year (2025 or 2026). Typical pay rose 2.9% from the same employers' year before.

✓ Official data from 5 agencies · Matches each agency's latest release · Show sources

Where assistant cooks work

Typical pay at each employer, 2026 (everyone paid).

Pay by level

Levels with 5 or more people.

  • Assistant Cook I6 people$13,906
  • Assistant Cook17 people$30,713
  • Assistant Cook II6 people$51,239

Related jobs and the next step up

Same line of work at a different rank, by typical pay (full-year employees where we can tell).

  1. Assistant Cook (this page)$30,713 (everyone)
  2. Cook Lead$47,821 (everyone)
  3. Cook Assistant$50,963 (everyone)
  4. Cook Senior$55,072 (everyone)
  5. Lead Cook$64,221 (everyone)
  6. Supervising Cook$65,221 (everyone)
  7. Senior Cook$71,246 (everyone)
  8. Head Cook$91,738 (everyone)
  9. Chief Cook$99,801 (everyone)

Highest-paid assistant cooks, 2026

  1. 1Chau M NguyenAssistant Cook · Los Angeles County$127,604
  2. 2Daryl A JaramilloAssistant Cook · Los Angeles County$85,482
  3. 3Ricardo D SalazarAssistant Cook · Los Angeles County$85,165
  4. 4Juneil L MendozaAssistant Cook · Los Angeles County$58,736
  5. 5Norman Y LiaoAssistant Cook · Los Angeles County$57,274

Common questions

How much does an assistant cook make in California public employers?

The typical assistant cook was paid $30,713 in 2026; most earned between $16,154 and $53,347. This counts all 29 people paid, including part-year workers.

How much of the pay is overtime?

Overtime made up 8.9% of all pay for assistant cooks in 2026.

Which job titles are included?

Everyone whose payroll title is Assistant Cook, at any level (for example "Assistant Cook I"). Part-time-schedule titles (such as "20 hours") are left out. Senior, supervising and trainee titles have their own pages.

Job titles are written out in full from the payroll's abbreviations (for example "SR CRRECTNL POLC OFCR" → "Senior Correctional Police Officer"). "Typical pay" is the median; "most earned" is the middle half. How we calculate this