Chef Salary in Chicago, IL

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What is the salary range of a Chef?

As of August 01, 2025, the average annual salary for a Chef in Chicago, IL ranges from $52,976 (25th percentile) to $72,072 (75th percentile), with a median annual salary of $61,006 and an hourly rate of $29. A Chef's salary is shaped by several key factors, including experience level, specific skills, industry differences, company size, and more. Below, we'll explore how each of these influences compensation.

View as table View as graph 25% $52,976 10% $45,666 90% $82,148 75% $72,072 $61,006 50%(Median) Didn’t find job title? Click

Chef Salaries by Percentile

Annual
Salary
Monthly
Pay
Weekly
Pay
Hourly
Wage
75th Percentile $72,072 $6,006 $1,386 $35
Average $61,006 $5,084 $1,173 $29
25th Percentile $52,976 $4,415 $1,019 $25
500+ Chef job openings Go >
Check out Chef Job Openings in Chicago, IL
Chef/Cook

DaT Bar - Lexington, IL

Executive Chef

Legno by Suparossa - Chicago, IL

Chef

Heartland Lodge - Nebo, IL

Sous Chef

HelloFresh - Darien, IL

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How much does a Chef make by hour, week, month, and year?

Salary.com provides you with accurate and diversified Chef salary data based on specialized databases to help you get a fairer salary. Click the switch button below to see more details about Chef hourly pay, weekly pay, monthly pay and so on.

Last Updated on August 01, 2025

How does experience level affect a Chef's Salary?

An entry-level Chef with under 1 year experience makes about $58,369. With less than 2 years of experience, a mid-level Chef makes around $58,968. After 2-4 years, the Chef pay rises to about $59,807. Those senior Chef with 5-8 years of experience earn roughly $61,336, and those Chef having 8 years or more experience are expected to earn about $64,640 on average.

Levels Salary
Entry Level Chef $58,369
Intermediate Level Chef $58,968
Senior Level Chef $59,807
Specialist Level Chef $61,336
Expert Level Chef $64,640
$58,369 0 yr
$58,968 < 2 yrs
$59,807 2-4 yrs
$61,336 5-8 yrs
$64,640 > 8 yrs
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Best-Paid Skills and Qualifications for Chef

What skills does a Chef need?

Each competency has five to ten behavioral assertions that can be observed, each with a corresponding performance level (from one to five) that is required for a particular job.

  1. Presentation: Presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product.
  2. Food Service: The foodservice or catering industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home.
  3. Food Handling: Food Handling means one or more operations of food production, manufacture, offering or displaying for sale, storage, preserving, wrapping, transportation, delivery, importation, exportation, or the licensing or approval for any of such activities.
See More Skills
Skills Demand Percentage
Presentation 8.53%
Food Service 2.44%
Food Handling 1.35%
What skills can make your compensation higher?
Mastering certain skills can make the compensation of a Chef higher. Salary.com's Real-time Job Posting Salary Data provides you the latest highly compensated skills to help you get a higher pay. For example, if you master Instructing, you can get a 13% salary raise. If you are good at Production Orders, your salary will increase by 12%. If you are expert in Customer Satisfaction, your salary will rise by 11%.
Skill Salary Salary % Increase
Instructing
$68,936
13%
Production Orders
$68,326
12%
Customer Satisfaction
$67,716
11%
Coaching
$66,496
9%
SOP
$66,496
9%
Procurement
$66,496
9%

Job openings of Chef

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Cost of Living In Chicago, IL

Cost of Living in Chicago, IL is
12.4% Higher
than the National Average

Use Salary.com's Cost of Living Calculator to find out what income you need to maintain your standard of living in a different city and how much more or less money you need to budget for basic expenses.

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About Our Data

Salary.com salary estimates, histograms, trends, and comparisons are derived from both employer job postings and third-party data sources. We also provide multiple percentiles of salary information for your reference, click here to know Why the Salary Midpoint Formula Is Crucial to Getting Pay Equity Right. With more online, real-time compensation data than any other website, Salary.com helps you determine your exact pay target.

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