Degree to Occupation Map
Occupations related to a culinary arts degree
NCES and BLS publish a crosswalk relating instructional programs to occupations. This page lists every occupation that crosswalk relates to culinary arts, with the BLS typical entry education, 2025 median wage and projected growth for each, and links to the RoleSprint page covering the role where one exists.
What occupations does the official crosswalk relate to a culinary arts degree?
The CIP 2020-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk published by NCES and BLS relates 12 CIP 2020 programs in culinary arts to 12 occupations. That maps a field of study to lines of work; it is not a statement that a culinary arts degree qualifies someone for any of them, and the crosswalk carries no figure for how many graduates enter each. Across the 11 with a published 2025 BLS wage the median is $40,140, ranging from $34,340 for Bartenders to $88,720 for Food Scientists and Technologists. BLS typical entry-level education splits 6 at no formal educational credential, 3 at high school diploma or equivalent, 1 at postsecondary nondegree award, 1 at bachelor's degree: 11 at or below a bachelor's degree and 0 above it. Cooks, Restaurant is projected to grow fastest at +12.1% over 2025-35. The highest-paid are Food Scientists and Technologists ($88,720), Food Service Managers ($69,390) and Chefs and Head Cooks ($62,470).
- Related occupations
- 12, from 12 CIP 2020 programs in culinary arts (a further 3 related occupations have no BLS or O*NET row on this site and are not listed)
- What the mapping means
- NCES states only that it "crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes". It relates a program to an occupation. It does not establish qualification, hiring, or how many graduates take that path.
- BLS typical entry-level education
- No formal educational credential: 6; High school diploma or equivalent: 3; Postsecondary nondegree award: 1; Bachelor's degree: 1
- Median wage across these occupations
- $40,140 (2025); 11 of 12 have a published BLS wage
- Next step
- 7 of the 12 occupations have a dedicated RoleSprint page covering what the role requires and how the work is performed.
Source and method
2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-06. Program-to-occupation relationships are reproduced from the NCES/BLS crosswalk exactly as published; RoleSprint groups CIP programs into the field of study a person would search for and lists the union of their related occupations, showing every member CIP code. Wage, typical entry education and outlook are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code. Working-condition figures are O*NET 30.3 means. No relationship strength, employment share or qualification judgement is published, because no source supplies one.
What this list is, and what it is not
The crosswalk's own description of itself is one sentence: “This file crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes in ascending order by CIP Code.” It relates a field of study to lines of work.
It does not say a culinary arts degree qualifies anyone for these occupations, that graduates usually enter them, or what share do: the crosswalk publishes no such figure. The wage and education columns come from a separate source, BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, and describe the occupation rather than the degree. Typical entry education is what BLS observes most often among people already doing the work; it is not a rule about who may be hired.
The 12 related occupations
Ordered by BLS median wage, highest first. 11 of 12 have a published wage.
| Occupation | BLS typical entry-level education | Median wage | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
Food Scientists and Technologists SOC 19-1012 Contact with others 3.9 · Time pressure 3.9 · Sitting 3.0 · Outdoors, all weather 1.7 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $88,720 2025 median | +6.2% 2025-35 · 1 openings/yr |
Food Service Managers SOC 11-9051 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 4.1 · Sitting 2.0 · Outdoors, all weather 2.0 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $69,390 2025 median | +5.8% 2025-35 · 38.8 openings/yr |
Chefs and Head Cooks SOC 35-1011 Contact with others 4.6 · Time pressure 4.8 · Sitting 1.7 · Outdoors, all weather 2.0 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $62,470 2025 median | +6.6% 2025-35 · 25.2 openings/yr |
Cooks, Private Household SOC 35-2013 Contact with others 3.6 · Time pressure 4.2 · Sitting 1.5 · Outdoors, all weather 1.7 of 5 | Postsecondary nondegree award At or below bachelor's | $47,940 2025 median | +5.1% 2025-35 · 5 openings/yr |
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers SOC 35-1012 Contact with others 4.6 · Time pressure 3.4 · Sitting 1.9 · Outdoors, all weather 1.2 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $44,080 2025 median | +5.4% 2025-35 · 171.5 openings/yr |
Butchers and Meat Cutters SOC 51-3021 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 4.1 · Sitting 1.3 · Outdoors, all weather 1.3 of 5 | No formal educational credential At or below bachelor's | $40,140 2025 median | +2.4% 2025-35 · 15.1 openings/yr |
Slaughterers and Meat Packers SOC 51-3023 Contact with others 3.9 · Time pressure 3.0 · Sitting 1.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.7 of 5 | No formal educational credential At or below bachelor's | $40,130 2025 median | +2% 2025-35 · 7.7 openings/yr |
Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria SOC 35-2012 Contact with others 4.6 · Time pressure 4.4 · Sitting 1.5 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | No formal educational credential At or below bachelor's | $37,450 2025 median | +2.8% 2025-35 · 62.9 openings/yr |
Cooks, Restaurant SOC 35-2014 Contact with others 4.1 · Time pressure 3.0 · Sitting 1.2 · Outdoors, all weather 2.1 of 5 | No formal educational credential At or below bachelor's | $37,390 2025 median | +12.1% 2025-35 · 218.6 openings/yr |
Bakers SOC 51-3011 Contact with others 4.4 · Time pressure 4.3 · Sitting 1.6 · Outdoors, all weather 1.2 of 5 | No formal educational credential At or below bachelor's | $37,160 2025 median | +5.5% 2025-35 · 36.5 openings/yr |
Bartenders SOC 35-3011 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 1.8 · Sitting 1.4 · Outdoors, all weather 1.2 of 5 | No formal educational credential At or below bachelor's | $34,340 2025 median | +5% 2025-35 · 121.2 openings/yr |
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products SOC 13-1022 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 4.0 · Sitting 4.0 · Outdoors, all weather 1.4 of 5 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
The crosswalk relates 3 further occupations to this field (25-1199, 35-2019, 99-9999) for which BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 publishes no line item on this site. They are counted here rather than listed, because there would be nothing to show beside the name.
BLS typical entry-level education for these occupations
11 of the 12 have a BLS typical entry-level education at or below a bachelor's degree; 0 are above it. "Typical" is BLS's word: it describes the workers already in the occupation.
- No formal educational credential
- 6
- High school diploma or equivalent
- 3
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- 1
- Bachelor's degree
- 1
This is BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2's description of the education most workers in each occupation typically hold when they enter it. It is not a list of requirements, and it says nothing about licences, certifications or experience, which BLS records separately and this page does not show.
Which programs this covers
“Culinary arts” groups 12 CIP 2020 instructional programs. The occupation list above is the union of everything the crosswalk relates to them.
- 12.0500 Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General
- 12.0501 Baking and Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef
- 12.0502 Bartending/Bartender
- 12.0503 Culinary Arts/Chef Training
- 12.0504 Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager
- 12.0505 Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant
- 12.0506 Meat Cutting/Meat Cutter
- 12.0507 Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, and Dining Room Management/Manager
- 12.0508 Institutional Food Workers
- 12.0509 Culinary Science/Culinology
- 12.0510 Wine Steward/Sommelier
- 12.0599 Culinary Arts and Related Services, Other
Grouping is RoleSprint's, and it is printed here so it can be checked. CIP's own grain is finer than the phrase anyone searches; the alternative is one page per code, which would put near-identical lists in front of the same question. How this map is built.
Working out which of these is realistic
A related occupation is a starting point, not a verdict. Three different questions decide whether one is worth pursuing, and each has its own page.
Program-to-occupation relationships from the 2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage, typical entry education and outlook from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Working-condition figures from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA and RoleSprint has modified some of this information.
What to do next
A crosswalk relates a field of study to lines of work. Whether one specific opening is worth your time depends on what you can actually show, which is a different question and the one RoleSprint answers.