Chefs and head cooks job market in Utah
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
Utah industry employment changed 1.2 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Chefs and head cooks in Utah.
Occupation pay
What Chefs and head cooks earn in Utah
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$59,060Utah- Middle 50% of published wages
- $41,750 – $75,830
- U.S. median annual wage
- $62,470
- Reference period
- May 2025
The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.
Pay around Utah
How median pay varies by metro area
Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Chefs and head cooks, compared with the Utah median of $59,060.
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT$60,030+1.6% vs. state
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT$57,540−2.6% vs. state
Ogden, UT$54,260−8.1% vs. state
Logan, UT-ID$51,220−13.3% vs. state
St. George, UT$46,610−21.1% vs. state
Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Utah median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.
Verified snapshot
Market at a Glance
Key changes in Utah’s weighted industry mix.
Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Published coverage: 9,541 represented establishments, 84.3% of the published industry mix.
Local research
What the data shows for chefs and head cooks in Utah
Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.
This occupation is less concentrated in the state
Employment concentration provides a different comparison for chefs and head cooks in Utah. In OEWS May 2025, the published location quotient is 0.78, meaning the occupation's share of employment is 0.78 times its national share. The state estimate is 1,740 jobs, 0.9% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 1.00 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. This measures existing employment concentration, not current hiring or future growth.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSOEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.
Leisure and hospitality has the largest positive weighted contribution
The positive weighted contributions in Utah are concentrated in Leisure and hospitality: it accounts for 87.5% across the leading industry groups examined in January to March 2026, with its own employment changing +1.9% year over year. The calculation weights industry groups by their shares of this occupation's national industry mix; the examined groups cover 94.7% of the mix. This describes an employment-growth proxy, not occupation jobs created.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWPay differs widely between metro areas
The median wage at the upper end of Utah's metro comparison is 28.8% above the lower end in OEWS May 2025. The 5 published estimates on a shared wage basis extend from St. George, UT at $46,610 to Salt Lake City-Murray, UT at $60,030. The wage difference alone does not account for living costs or job availability.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSMetro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.
Published median pay is below the U.S. median
The OEWS May 2025 estimates put median annual pay for chefs and head cooks at $59,060 in Utah and $62,470 nationally. The state median is 5.5% lower. Living costs are not included in this comparison, and individual workers' pay varies.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSIndustry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology
Employment trends
Utah industry employment over time
Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.
- Utah · 2026 Q1+1.8%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.6%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | Utah | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | +1.5% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | +1.2% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | +2.6% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | +1.3% | 99.85% |
| 2025 Q2 | +1.8% | 100% |
| 2025 Q3 | +1.2% | 100% |
| 2025 Q4 | +1.8% | 100% |
| 2026 Q1 | +1.8% | 98.03% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows Utah’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.
- Published quarters
- 8
- Earliest quarter
- 2024 Q2
- Latest quarter
- 2026 Q1
- U.S. benchmark
- +0.6%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Chefs and head cooks Work
The occupation mix determines which Utah industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leisure and hospitality | 83.4% | +1.9% | 9,541 | $576 |
| Private education and health services | 6.0% | +2.6% | 16,246 | $1,112 |
| Other services | 2.4% | +0.8% | 8,503 | $963 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 1.8% | Not published | 20,914 | $1,264 |
| Professional and business services | 1.8% | -0.1% | 38,681 | $1,912 |
| State and local | 1.2% | +4.2% | 3,397 | $1,181 |
Which industries are growing?
4 weighted industries are growing
Only weighted industries with a published positive Utah employment change are listed.
- State and local+4.2%
- Private education and health services+2.6%
- Leisure and hospitality+1.9%
- Other services+0.8%
The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.
Current Utah context
Current Utah Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in Utah. They are not Chefs and head cooks demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · Utah
Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score
Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View values: Indeed postings index
| Observation date | Index (Feb 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | 101.71 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 101.97 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 101.38 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 101.41 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 101.00 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 101.28 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 101.23 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 101.38 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 100.75 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 101.39 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 101.03 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 102.33 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 101.65 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 101.59 |
This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.
Statewide layoff notices
Statewide WARN notices
Utah statewide3 notices in this source
Notice dates from Aug 5, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.
What this means: This is the number of WARN notices with notice dates in this period in Utah’s official statewide list. It is a statewide count only, and does not identify any employer.
Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. WARN covers qualifying large layoffs and closures under applicable law, not all layoffs, and thresholds vary by state.
Utah Department of Workforce Services About WARN data
Source last checked
Career context
Related occupations
Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.
Questions answered by this release
Chefs and head cooks in Utah FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Chefs and head cooks in Utah?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Utah industries weighted to Chefs and head cooks changed +1.8% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.6% nationwide.
Are wages for Chefs and head cooks rising in Utah?
QCEW does not publish pay for Chefs and head cooks in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +4.0% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this Utah industry view?
The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 98.03% of the occupation’s industry mix.
Does this page show current Chefs and head cooks openings?
No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.
Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 98.03% · full evidence record
Methodology & Sources
Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.
- Occupation
- Chefs and head cooks
- SOC code
- 35-1011
- State
- Utah
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- +1.8%State data coverage 98.03%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- +0.6%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- +1.2 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
- Establishments, year over year
- +2.8%State data coverage 98.03%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +4.0%State data coverage 99.85%
- Industry mix vintage
- EP-2025-2035
- BLS publication date
- Aug 28, 2026
- Source verification
- Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
- Canonical record URL
- https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/chefs-and-head-cooks/utah#evidence-record
- Derived by
- JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix
MethodologyBLS QCEWHow to citeQCEW state context release, 2026 Q1
Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.