Cooking
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Cooking occupation series (code 7404).
The verdict
In the Food Preparation and Serving Family family, Cooking counts 3,863 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.2% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount grew 0.2% from the prior period; pay averages $72,079, which pays below the federal-wide $117,339.
- Employees
- 3,863
- Share of workforce
- 0.2%
- Avg salary
- $72,079
- Avg tenure
- 12.3 yrs
FedScope read on Cooking (dense series)
Federal agencies employ 3,863 people in the Cooking occupation (OPM code 7404), accounting for 0.2% of the total federal civilian workforce of 1,953,300 for the June 2026 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved up by 0.2% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.
Cooking pays $72,079 per year on average, moving up 0.1% from the prior period (a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change). Employees in this role stay an average of 12.3 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
Cooking sits inside the Food Preparation and Serving Family family (code 74), which contains 6 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Cooking postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Food Preparation and Serving Family family.
Within the Food Preparation and Serving Family family, Cooking is one of the top 6 occupations by headcount (#2), accounting for 36.0% of the family's combined 10,719 employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (67th percentile) of pay among Food Preparation and Serving Family occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Cooking pay compares to the federal average of $117,339
Occupation Average
$72,079
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-38.6%
Where Cooking ranks on lean federal pay
Its average salary of $72,079 is higher than 28% of federal occupation series (153 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Cooking sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; Cooking ranks higher than 28%.
Related Occupations in Food Preparation and Serving Family
5 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Service Working | 5,692 | $49,044 | 8.2 yrs |
| Meatcutting | 1,125 | n/a | 12.9 yrs |
| Baking | 16 | $63,987 | 21.6 yrs |
| Misc Food Preparation and Serving | 13 | n/a | 6.4 yrs |
| Waiter | 10 | n/a | 25.6 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Cooking outside the Food Preparation and Serving Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (3,863 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($72,079 here).
Key takeaways
- Cooking pays below the federal average by 38.6% ($72,079 vs $117,339 federal-wide), at the 28th percentile for pay among 541 tracked occupation series.
- A smaller, specialized federal occupation by headcount: 3,863 employees, 0.2% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount grew 0.2% from the prior period.
- According to OPM FedScope June 2026, Cooking ranks #104 of 663 federal occupation series by headcount (the same employee_count ordering as our occupations directory).
- Within the Food Preparation and Serving Family family, Cooking is one of the top 6 occupations by headcount (#2), accounting for 36.0% of the family's combined 10,719 employees.
OPM FedScope and Federal Workforce Data figures are federal civilian headcounts, average salaries, and length-of-service statistics - not job-quality scores, hiring advice, or a live vacancy listing. A larger or higher-paid agency is not a better employer.