Food preparation workers job market in Missouri
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
Missouri industry employment tracked close to the U.S. benchmark
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Food preparation workers in Missouri.
Occupation pay
What Food preparation workers earn in Missouri
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$31,510Missouri- Middle 50% of published wages
- $29,220 – $37,050
- U.S. median annual wage
- $35,320
- 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 Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.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 Missouri
How median pay varies by metro area
Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Food preparation workers, compared with the Missouri median of $31,510.
Springfield, MO$35,340+12.2% vs. state
St. Louis, MO-IL$32,400+2.8% vs. state
Kansas City, MO-KS$32,230+2.3% vs. state
Columbia, MO$29,710−5.7% vs. state
Jefferson City, MO$29,200−7.3% vs. state
Joplin, MO-KS$29,010−7.9% vs. state
View 2 more published metro areas
St. Joseph, MO-KS$28,960−8.1% vs. state
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL$28,860−8.4% vs. state
Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Missouri 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 Missouri’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: 57,654 represented establishments, 85.5% of the published industry mix.
Local research
What the data shows for food preparation workers in Missouri
Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.
The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market
Among 8 comparable metro estimates associated with Missouri in OEWS May 2025, the pay leader and employment-size leader differ. Springfield, MO has the highest median annual pay at $35,340, with estimated employment of 1,490. St. Louis, MO-IL has the largest employment estimate at 6,220, with median pay of $32,400. The pay leader's median is 9.1% higher; estimated employment describes existing jobs, not available vacancies.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSSome metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.
Industry groups are pulling in opposite directions
A single industry employment figure combines an increase and a decrease in Missouri in January to March 2026. Among the leading industry groups for this occupation, Leisure and hospitality changed +1.4% year over year and Trade, transportation, and utilities changed -0.9%. The groups examined cover 98.9% of the occupation's national industry mix.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWPublished median pay is below the U.S. median
Median annual pay in Missouri stands 10.8% below the U.S. estimate for food preparation workers. The underlying OEWS May 2025 figures are $31,510 for the state and $35,320 nationally. This is a nominal wage comparison; living costs and individual pay differences are outside its scope.
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
Missouri 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.
- Missouri · 2026 Q1+0.8%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.3%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | Missouri | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | +1.4% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | +0.6% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | +0.6% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | -0.6% | 99.91% |
| 2025 Q2 | -0.6% | 99.91% |
| 2025 Q3 | -0.3% | 99.91% |
| 2025 Q4 | +0.1% | 99.91% |
| 2026 Q1 | +0.8% | 99.91% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows Missouri’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
- +0.3%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Food preparation workers Work
The occupation mix determines which Missouri industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leisure and hospitality | 58.6% | +1.4% | 17,366 | $563 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 26.6% | -0.9% | 40,288 | $1,141 |
| Private education and health services | 9.9% | +2.0% | 77,340 | $1,199 |
| Manufacturing | 1.8% | +0.5% | 9,244 | $1,622 |
| Professional and business services | 1.1% | -0.3% | 45,495 | $1,851 |
| State and local | 0.9% | +0.3% | 8,659 | $1,075 |
Which industries are growing?
4 weighted industries are growing
Only weighted industries with a published positive Missouri employment change are listed.
- Private education and health services+2.0%
- Leisure and hospitality+1.4%
- Manufacturing+0.5%
- State and local+0.3%
The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.
Current Missouri context
Current Missouri Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in Missouri. They are not Food preparation workers demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · Missouri
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 | 104.25 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 104.62 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 104.93 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 105.16 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 105.34 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 105.41 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 106.43 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 107.57 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 108.70 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 109.53 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 109.90 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 110.48 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 109.79 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 107.92 |
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 layoff-notice filings
Missouri statewide8 notices in this source
Notice dates from Aug 5, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.
What this means: These are statewide totals from notices dated in this period in Missouri’s official tracking system. Reported positions are the counts published in those notices, not a count of people confirmed to have lost their jobs. No employer is identified.
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. Missouri’s state tracking system also records smaller Rapid Response events that fall below federal WARN thresholds, so it is not a list of federal WARN filings only.
Missouri Office of Workforce Development 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
Food preparation workers in Missouri FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Food preparation workers in Missouri?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Missouri industries weighted to Food preparation workers changed +0.8% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.3% nationwide.
Are wages for Food preparation workers rising in Missouri?
QCEW does not publish pay for Food preparation workers in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +1.7% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this Missouri industry view?
The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 99.91% of the occupation’s industry mix.
Does this page show current Food preparation workers 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 99.91% · 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
- Food preparation workers
- SOC code
- 35-2021
- State
- Missouri
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- +0.8%State data coverage 99.91%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- +0.3%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- +0.4 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
- +3.4%State data coverage 99.91%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +1.7%State data coverage 99.91%
- 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/food-preparation-workers/missouri#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.